California Is Taking a Page From Shohei Ohtani’s $700 Million Deal

Newsom’s Proposed State Budget Has More Deferrals Than the Baseball Star’s Contract

Baseball player Shohei Ohtani smiling at the camera. He wears a white Dodgers jersey and a blue L.A. cap.

Shohei Ohtani is famous for being the world’s best baseball player, the only major leaguer of the past century who can both hit and pitch at an elite level.

Perhaps he should take charge of California’s state budget too.

I say that because of his new contract. This winter, Ohtani signed a deal to play with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was initially reported as a 10-year, $700 million contract, but baseball writers quickly discovered that its real details were quite different.

Ohtani had agreed to collect just $2 million a year for …

by Joe Mathews | February 20, 2024

A Modest Proposal: Give High-Speed Rail to Unhoused Californians

Combining Two Failed Golden State Projects Could Save Both. Right?

by Joe Mathews | November 7, 2023

California is spending billions to house its increasing population of unhoused people. But it hasn’t come close to building enough to meet its ambitious goal of ending homelessness. And many …

tktk | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

What Happens When the ‘Indispensable Insider’ of Sacramento Steps Down?

Ana Matosantos Is a Once-in-a-Generation Financial Wizard. Without Her Sorcery, California Will Need a New Budget Whisperer

by Joe Mathews | July 26, 2022

Send help, Harry Potter! Sacramento needs a new wizard!

Ana Matosantos has announced she is departing the Newsom administration at the end of the summer, telling the L.A. Times that she …

California’s Recall Was Worth Every Penny

When It Comes to Supporting Democratic Infrastructure, $276 Million Is a Bargain

by Joe Mathews | September 28, 2021

It’s hard to think of a better bargain in our high-cost state than the failed recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom. At an estimated cost of $276 million—less than $7 …

I, the California Budget, Am Worried I Might Be Too Big

Before We Throw More Money at Our Problems, We Need to Redesign Our Broken Systems

by THE CALIFORNIA BUDGET, as told to JOE MATHEWS | June 8, 2021

Do you really think that bulking me up with your billions will solve California’s post-pandemic problems?

I, the California budget, am bigger than ever right now—more than $267 billion, according to …

How California (Might Have) Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Big, Unbalanced Budget

COVID Is Helping the State Get Over Its Misguided Obsession With Staying in the Black at the Expense of Solving Its Costly Problems

by Joe Mathews | January 26, 2021

In the midst of California’s pandemic catastrophe, we may be seeing, at long last, the demise of the dominant mode of thinking of our state’s leaders: “budgetism.”

Budgetism is the false …

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