After several years of not bothering to show up in the Capitol to deliver the annual State of the State speech, Gov. Gavin Newsom enlisted the building and all the government officials in it, even the justices of the state Supreme Court, to be props in his latest presidential campaign video.
Copying the president’s entrance for a State of the Union address, Newsom entered the Assembly chamber from the back, followed by an escort committee. He moved slowly down the aisle, shaking hands and offering smiling recognition. After a few short speeches by others he was introduced by Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis as the “50, 40th governor of the state of California.”
“What number am I?” Newsom asked.
He wants so badly to be “48.”
Newsom launched into an attack on “47,” President Donald Trump, for a litany of complaints including refusing to act on California’s request for another $33.9 billion in federal aid. Under Newsom’s leadership, the “fourth largest economy in the world” can’t get along without bailouts.
The rest of the speech was a game of peek-a-boo with the facts.
For example, Newsom said, “We became the first state in the country to require insurers to lower insurance for home hardening upgrades” and “in the last few months, six insurance companies announced their commitment to remain in or expand coverage here in California.”
He left out that after the 2022 regulation requiring home-hardening discounts was implemented, insurance companies canceled policies and exited the state. So in July 2025, California adopted an “innovative forward-looking model” that allowed insurers to price policies according to “wildfire catastrophe models” instead of historical data. Massive rate increases followed.
Regarding clean energy, Newsom said China is “cleaning our clock” by making “70% of the world’s electric vehicles.” He left out that China uses coal to generate electricity, reliant on it for 62% of primary energy consumption as recently as 2023.
Newsom bragged that California was “run on 100% clean energy for at least a part of nine out of 10 days.” He left out nights. Check CAISO.com for “Today’s Outlook” on energy supply and see for yourself that California is powered by electricity that’s generated with natural gas or imported from other states, where they have plenty because Newsom’s not their governor.
“Just last year, finally, California finally ended its use of any coal-fired power,” Newsom enthused. He left out that while China burns coal on our shared planet, Californians pay for unreliable solar and wind energy and also pay for hydroelectric, natural gas and nuclear facilities to keep the lights on. California’s electricity rates have doubled in ten years and are far above the national average. Twenty percent of utility customers are behind on paying their bills.
Newsom boasted that California has “seven times more clean energy jobs than fossil fuel jobs,” when he’s personally responsible for refinery workers losing their jobs. He called two special sessions of the legislature to take control of oil refinery profit and inventory levels, leading directly to the closure of two more refineries in the state. He left that out.
The governor proudly described signing a 15-year extension of the “Cap and Invest” program and using $60 billion of the money it will collect to pay for “rebates for your monthly energy bills.”
He left out that the “Cap and Invest” program, a hidden tax on energy, raises the cost of everything in California including food, and there’s no rebate for any of that.
Newsom accused President Trump of “shifting a tax burden from the wealthy, from billionaires, to small businesses,” but he left out that he himself slammed small businesses with extra-high payroll taxes by refusing to pay back a federal loan for unemployment benefits. While every other state paid back similar loans using COVID relief funds, California blew the money and left employers legally required to pay off the debt.
With signature elitism, Newsom lectured the legislature that California must build the bullet train because Fresno, Madera and Bakersfield “are communities we shouldn’t be talking down to.” He left out that there’s no train, no tracks, no federal grants, no private investment and no prospect of ever having enough money to finish the project.
I could do this all day, but we have to get to the budget.
On Friday morning, the governor’s January budget proposal was released. It’s not the real budget. He’ll release a revised version in May. That’s not the real budget, either.
By law, state lawmakers must pass the budget by June 15 or they don’t get paid. They’ll pass it, but it won’t be the real budget. A “real” budget will be passed eventually. Then there will be trailer bills.
Every year, the Assembly and Senate pass dozens of blank bills and hold them. These bills go through the legislative process as if they had words on them, but there’s only a bill number and a line of placeholder text.
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Gov. Newsom doesn’t speak of “spending growth.” He calls it “investing.” He called it that, by my count, 20 times in his speech on Thursday.
If you were playing a drinking game, I hope you’re okay.
Write Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on X @Susan_Shelley
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