Editorial: Gavin Newsom said he would be a careful fiscal steward. Instead, he ignored history

In 2018, Gavin Newsom was elected governor after a campaign in which he told editorial boards across California that he would in effect be a better version of then-Gov. Jerry Brown. The lieutenant governor said he would be a much more effective manager of dysfunctional state agencies — but would also emulate Brown's careful stewardship of state finances.

Six years later, Newsom's claims could not seem more empty. His administration bears responsibility for the worst mismanagement scandal in modern California history: the state Employment Development Department's payment of at least $20 billion in fraudulent claims when the pandemic sent unemployment soaring, which happened at the same time the agency also failed to get help to tens of thousands of jobless residents who had legitimate claims.

Newsom's camp may downplay this debacle because of the unique challenge of COVID-19. But when it comes to the budget nightmare now hanging over the state, the circumstances aren't unique at all. Because of California's reliance on volatile capital-gains revenue, it's been obvious for decades that lawmakers should be wary of creating or expanding programs when revenue is up because of the chaos that would loom when revenue went down.

But like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis, Newsom went along with the Legislature's push for substantial new spending when the stock market's late 2020 and 2021 boom created the illusion of a massive surplus. Now, however, the state faces a deficit of $38 billion (Newsom's estimate) or $73 billion (the Legislative Analyst's Office's far more credible estimate). And here comes chaos. Not only will recently expanded programs have to be scaled back, programs that help millions of poor residents seem sure to be buffeted — even if Newsom's optimism on the size of the deficit is borne out.

The governor owes an apology to 39 million Californians for not heeding history. Somewhere, Jerry Brown is shaking his head.