NYT reports:
The amount is a matter of debate, but by any measure significant: between $1.2 billion, projected by Gov. Jerry Brown, and $4.4 billion, the estimate of the Legislature’s independent financial analyst. The surplus comes barely three years after the state was facing a deficit of close to $60 billion.
California, a state dominated by the Democratic Party, fixed a problem that Republicans in the legislature created and refused to solve.
After Bush's deficit was cut in half by Obama, mainly by increased revenue, California reinforces the point that raising taxes on the rich decreases the deficits without hurting the economy. We should never again here the refrain that "we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem". That lie should be dead and buried.
Having said that there is now a battle between the more fiscally conservative Governor Brown, who wants to pay down the debt, and others who want to invest in the poor. But I'd like to remind you that this battle between Democrats is a battle between adults. When the Republicans are out of the picture, we actually end up debating real problems.