Governor of California Gavin Newsom will share an unusual State of the State message on Tuesday, but it will not involve a personal address or answer questions about his policy priorities.
The governor will instead release a prepared video message, which will be sent to lawmakers in written form, and hold a private reception with the Legislature.
Political advisers said it’s an odd political maneuver at a time when Newsom is fighting several battles and could use the opportunity to communicate with lawmakers and assert himself on a number of issues.
“It was a delay of a few months and now it’s almost an afterthought,” said Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant. “And that’s a shame because it’s a real opportunity for him to engage with the legislature and put forward what his ideas are. This year he played defense, and I think that shows in the way he handles the state of the state.”
Newsom has postponed the speech since March, when he was originally scheduled to speak at the Capitol before the vote on Proposition 1 prompted him to push it back.
His team said the move to deliver a recorded speech comes down to scheduling — let alone that the governor could likely find a way to make comments about California’s health at a place and time of his choosing, if he wanted to.
Newsom’s political problems
Newsom faces challenges on a number of different fronts.
The governor and legislative leaders announced an agreement over the weekend on a $297.9 billion budget, but he agreed with lawmakers on some significant cuts and spending items.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, and Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, were able to secure $1 billion for a new round of homelessness grants, cut prison funding by $750 million and return money for housing and social safety net programs that Newsom wanted to cut.
Leaders got much of what they wanted at a time when the state faces an estimated $45 billion deficit. The budget aims to close a $47 billion deficit.
Newsom has not engaged in the challenging budget processes that state leaders have seen in recent decades, due to a Democratic supermajority in the Legislature and rule changes that make it easier for lawmakers to approve spending plans.
However, developing a spending plan in a time of deficits receives little positive media attention, said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic political consultant.
“There are a lot of negative headlines about the budget,” Acosta said. ‘It’s not a handsome dory. We’re not throwing money at a bunch of programs. Now we have to cut back and postpone. And so it’s harder for the governor to take any credit for things if not all the news coming out of Sacramento is great.
At the same time, the governor, Rivas and McGuire are struggling to get proponents of an initiative to change parts of Proposition 47 so that it is removed from the November ballot before Thursday’s deadline.
Newsom has made clear since January that he does not want to change the voter-approved 2014 measure that made certain theft and drug offenses misdemeanors and set a $950 threshold for shoplifting.
The governor, Rivas and McGuire have been pushing their alternative to the initiative, a package of bills that would toughen penalties for shoplifting, but not in a way that would require voters to roll back parts of Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure. created the current system.
Leaders have tried to corner ballot advocates by making changes to some bills that would invalidate the legislation if the initiative passes. So far, this has only divided Democrats and infuriated Republicans, who previously supported the bills.
Last week, Newsom’s administration was embarrassed by a CBS 13 story that revealed leaked emails between chief of staff Dana Williamson and Greg Totten of the California District Attorneys Association, the strongest backer of the 2024 ballot measure.
The emails showed that Williamson played hardball on Totten, saying the administration would not engage with prosecutors unless they agreed to move the initiative to the 2026 midterm elections.
It is unclear whether Newsom will mention the shoplifting issue in Tuesday’s speech.
Is the speech a big deal?
Does statehood even matter to most Californians?
“If anyone wants to criticize the governor, they can find something to criticize him on,” Acosta said. “I don’t think the average person is waiting to see what the state of the state is. It’s probably not the most important thing to most people that he didn’t do it and that not doing it the quote, unquote ‘traditional way’ actually means something.”
Maviglio still sees some value in giving a speech, even though Newsom, he said, has never been fond of traditional stage-style moments.
“There are some things you have to do when you’re governor,” he said. ‘And that is addressing the legislature, addressing the people. Lay out your priorities. I mean, it’s our equivalent of the State of the Union. It’s an opportunity to make headlines and get things rolling.”
Both agree it has given Republicans — who have been attacking him for months over the lack of a speech — more opportunity to attack him.
“Maybe it’s like, ‘Okay, the Republicans have been beating me over the head for three months here. I’m just going to be casual about it and say it’s never been a problem,” Maviglio said.
