Gavin Newsom to give final State of the State address
For the first time in six years, Gov. Gavin Newsom will deliver an in-person “State of the State” address from the Capitol.
Newsom enters his last year in office facing an $18 billion deficit, which the Legislative Analyst’s Office projected could swell to $35 billion next year. The nonpartisan office attributed that to state spending outstripping revenue.
The governor is expected to touch on some budget priorities in his speech, which will come Thursday, one day before state financial officials publish his full spending plan on Friday.
The Department of Finance, which calculates its projections differently, is expected to estimate a smaller deficit than the LAO. Agency spokesperson HD Palmer declined to identify a specific number earlier this week.
Assembly budget advisor Jason Sisney said the state government was in better financial straits than anticipated, citing data from the State Controller’s Office. Those numbers show the general fund had $11.6 billion on hand as of November 30.
“Despite the last few years of deficit-correcting actions in the budget and projected future deficits, California’s state government cash position has been very strong in recent years—perhaps the strongest cash position of any subnational government in history,” Sisney wrote.
Newsom is expected to address lawmakers and the media from the State Capitol, which he has not done since the pandemic, at 10:30 a.m., and it will be livestreamed. Last year, he teased aspects of his spending plan at a press conference in Turlock, a day before flying to Los Angeles following the wildfires. In years past, he’s devoted whole parts of his address to a single topic like homelessness, which he did in 2020.
Newsom has been more candid in recent months about his aspirations for higher office and said he would wait until after 2026 to make a decision about whether to run for president.
He has emerged in the national media as a Democratic contender, fresh off his victory with Proposition 50, which redrew the state’s congressional districts to shore up Democrats’ chances of capturing five more House seats in this year’s midterms.
His ex-wife, U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, recently told the New York Times that he was “one thousand percent running for president in 2028.”
Newsom told MS NOW in an interview that aired Monday that running for president was “not my area of focus right now,” citing angst over the White House’s heavy-handed immigration tactics and sending National Guard troops into liberal cities.
“The only thing that matters is 2026 taking back the House of Representatives and having a speaker of the House by the last name of Jeffries,” Newsom said, referring to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
“2028 is truly a distraction.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Gavin Newsom to give final State of the State address."
