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Newsom lays out first budget as California's new governor
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom presents his first state budget during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday presented a sweeping $209 billion budget plan that seeks to signal a new wave of state leadership, making large investments in housing, education and wildfire firefighting and recovery efforts.
The governor's 2019-2020 spending proposal represents a 4 percent increase in general plan spending, which he argued is not out of line with his predecessor, Jerry Brown, who was well-known for his fiscal constraint.
But Newsom also projected a $21.4 billion surplus, somewhat more than projected in November by legislative analysts.
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