So the last biennium, we had an $18 billion surplus. This biennium, we have a $6 billion deficit. That's a $24 billion swing in one biennium.

And just like, so a couple of years ago, Gavin Newsom announced that there was a $40 billion surplus. You could put Alex up. There was a $40 billion surplus in California. And I was like, well, I bet he's going to clean up homelessness and he's going to give people health care. They did nothing. They did nothing with that $40 billion.

The head of the California Department of Finance, H.D. Palmer, was interviewed by Capitol Public Radio, and he explained it fully. Quote: So, the governor, when he was noting our surplus, said that this isn't going to go on forever. In the past in California, when we've been in good times, the governors and legislatures have thought this is going to go on forever and we can continue budgeting. In doing what we've done so far, thinking that we're going to be in good times for a number of years, it's turned out painfully not to be the case. The governor was very mindful of that back in May, and he said, Let's be smart about how we deal with the surplus. And the legislature agreed with him, and they were smart in a couple of areas. They chose to pay down debt for prior years, they chose to build up our budget reserves, they chose to continue reducing our long-term liabilities like pension obligations, and they chose to use a good chunk of the discretionary part of the surplus on one-time spending as opposed to building a higher ongoing level of spending.