Just a few years ago, California’s budget was overflowing with a record high surplus, spurring the creation of a slew of programs reflecting the state’s liberal ideals.

Democrats who control the state Capitol funded pilots to test new ways to support foster youth, help oil workers transition to cleaner industries and prevent more Californians from becoming homeless — just some of the ambitious ideas that became reality when the budget was flush.

Now, as the state faces an enormous budget deficit that the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office predicted in February could be as much as $73 billion, some of those programs could come to a screeching halt.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic lawmakers are considering significant cuts to some of the very initiatives they recently helped launch while promising to “protect our progress.”

It’s both a reflection of California’s wild budget fluctuations and what can happen in a one-party state known as a progressive policy trailblazer when financial times are good.

For Republicans, it’s an “I told you so” moment.

“The surpluses were absolutely abnormal. They should have put much more money into the budgetary reserve than they did,” said Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks), vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee.

Newsom’s budget last year included record reserves of nearly $38 billion, but for those in the minority party like Niello, more could have been put away in lieu of creating costly new programs.

“Let’s not get too crazy with these huge revenues,” is the approach Democrats should have taken, Niello said.

Organizations such as the California Budget Policy Center, which advocates for low-income residents and policies that curb inequities, argue there’s nothing wrong with trying out new ideas when the money is there.

“The state needs these opportunities to experiment and practice innovation because you can improve the efficiency and effectiveness during those periods of time,” said Chris Hoene, executive director of the center. “The deficit is forcing them to pull back on a significant share of programs but … if there are better revenue periods ahead, they have said they will continue to make those investments.”

Reducing or altogether eliminating newer programs that are still being tested is better than cutting long established programs that Californians rely on, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for Newsom’s Department of Finance.

“These clearly are proposals that wouldn’t be put forward were [it] not for the fact that we’ve got a substantial shortfall,” Palmer said. “It is understandable that people would have objections to these proposals. The question then becomes: What alternatives would people want to put forward, if you choose not to do these measures, that would provide us a like amount of savings to close the shortfall?”

Sen. Dave Min (D-Irvine) put it more bluntly during a legislative budget meeting held at the Capitol last week: “I’ll just be honest, this sucks.”

Newsom signed into law this week a budget agreement made with lawmakers that reduces the deficit by $17 billion, though it’s only a first step toward closing the yawning gap in the state’s spending plan.

As negotiations continue leading up to the June 15 deadline for lawmakers to pass a budget, here are some of the pilot programs Newsom has suggested scaling back or eliminating:

Support for public defenders and eligible prisoners

Prisoners who can’t afford to pay private attorneys and are eligible to have their sentences shortened could potentially stay behind bars longer due to one proposed funding reduction.

In 2021, a public defense pilot program was created to help attorneys cope with a backlog of cases involving prisoners eligible for earlier release under the state’s latest progressive resentencing laws.

Under the program, county public defender offices have received $100 million, collectively helping free more than 8,000 people in the program’s first six months, according to the California Board of State and Community Corrections. Many of those beneficiaries were charged with murder because of their involvement in a felony that led to a death, even if they were not the actual killer — a remnant of a law that California overturned in 2019.

The program now faces a $40-million reduction — a move proponents say could render some of California’s resentencing laws useless because understaffed and overburdened offices won’t be able to adequately assist those eligible.

A representative for Newsom said the funding given so far “still provides data for the evaluation of the results” of the program. But Ricardo Garcia, public defender for Los Angeles County, says it will hamper the state’s efforts to “right some of the mistakes of the past.”

In Los Angeles County, the program has led to the release of more than 100 prisoners, representing 685 fewer years of total potential incarceration, according to Garcia. The program has allowed Garcia’s office to hire more public defenders, social workers and support staff as they represent more than 800 eligible clients who await resentencing.

“Having all these statutes in place … isn’t very helpful if we don’t have the resources to implement it and to really make them effective,” Garcia said.

Help for struggling foster kids

Since 2019, thousands of foster kids — and some of their caretakers — have been able to call a 24/7 hotline for help with everyday conflicts and receive expert support.

The urgent response system was prompted by concerns about “placement disruptions” that can lead to instability and possibly homelessness for the already vulnerable youths.

The hotline annually serves about 5,000 foster children and caregivers, according to state data.

Child welfare advocates are calling on the governor and lawmakers to reconsider a $30-million proposed reduction — a cut they say will shutter the program entirely.

Foster placement changes in California decreased by 16% since the launch of the hotline, according to the data, and advocates say that’s no coincidence.

“We’re certain cutting it will lead to serious negative outcomes for foster children, including increased hospitalization and criminalization,” Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, said.

Funding for low-income housing

In 2023 alone, more than 100,000 Californians had to move because the owners of their homes fell behind on their bills, according to the Community Landtrust Network.

The foreclosure intervention housing preservation program was launched as a way to prevent displacement of renters. It offers grants to residents and nonprofits so they can buy properties at risk of foreclosure and keep them available as homes for people with low incomes.

Proponents of the program called it an “unprecedented” solution to the state’s homelessness crisis because it allows at-risk renters to stay where they are instead of potentially being forced onto the streets or into shelters.

Newsom proposed cutting $248 million meant for the program over three years — about half its total budget. Advocates are urging him to change his mind, as the funding has not even yet been disbursed.

“The need for the program is too great and both [the California Department of Housing & Community Development] and other key stakeholders have sunk too many resources into this pioneering housing strategy to hobble it now,” the Community Landtrust Network said in a statement.

A slew of climate friendly programs

Low-income Californians at the highest risk of wildfires destroying their homes, and oil and gas workers at risk of losing their jobs, are among those who could feel the brunt of climate programs now on the chopping block.

Funding reductions are proposed for a home hardening initiative, a program that helps workers find new jobs as the state moves away from fossil fuels, and a program that promotes composting in local governments.

The proposed reductions have environmental activists concerned, even as the budget draft maintains billions in investments to curb climate change and California is considered an international leader on the issue.

“The state needs to accelerate its efforts to prepare, not pull back — especially in vulnerable and underresourced communities,” Zack Cefalu, a legislative affairs analyst for the League of California Cities, said.

An appeals court dismissed charges against a Michigan election worker who put a USB flash drive into an electronic poll book and downloaded the names of voters at the close of a primary election in 2022.

The court’s conclusion: James Holkeboer’s conduct was improper but not a crime.

He was charged with election fraud. But Holkeboer’s lawyers pointed out that the state law used by prosecutors only bars acts that change the election record.

CALIFORNIA SUES BEACH CITY OVER VOTER ID LAW BACKED BY MAJORITY OF RESIDENTS

“The prosecution had to demonstrate that Holkeboer fraudulently removed or secreted the election list of voters such that the information was no longer available or altered,” the court said in a 3-0 opinion Thursday.

“Here, no evidence was presented that election information was altered or made unavailable” to local election officials, the court said.

Holkeboer’s acts did not affect the results of the 2022 primary election. He was working at a polling place in Kent County’s Gaines Township, south of Grand Rapids, for the first time.

Holkeboer, a Republican, told investigators that he downloaded information about voters because he wanted to compare it to lists he was seeking under a separate public records request, according to a summary of the case.

Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons, who oversees elections, said she’s in favor of an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.

“This breach of public trust must be addressed,” she said.

There are so many billboards on each side of the 10 Freeway through the Coachella Valley that they bleed into one another like a deck of cards being shuffled. They come at you so fast that you begin to think the headliner this weekend at the Coachella festival is attorney Jacob Emrani.

Even in this cluttered landscape, two billboards featuring Desert Community College District Board trustee Bea Gonzalez stand out.

They’re at opposite ends of the valley — one near Fantasy Spring Resort Casino in Indio, another just east of the Indian Canyon Drive exit in Palm Springs — and feature the same photo of the spiky-haired, bespectacled trustee.

“Bea Gonzalez. Shame on you for voting against COD [College of the Desert] students!” the billboards blare against an orange background. Below that is the name of the group that funds them, Promises Made Promises Broken.

The hundreds of thousands of concertgoers who’ll pass by most likely won’t give the billboards a second thought. But they tell a story of a political brawl that has consumed the Coachella Valley.

Supporters say a long-planned College of the Desert campus in downtown Palm Springs, which is expected to break ground this year, will bring prestige and new programs such as hospitality, engineering and film to an area that needs it. Opponents such as Gonzalez say that the estimated $400-million cost is exorbitant and that the funds should be spread across underserved areas of the Coachella Valley.

When Gonzalez beat a two-term incumbent in a 2020 election, she joined two other trustees in trying to limit the scope of the Palm Springs project, if not scuttling it altogether.

Soon came the attacks: An unsuccessful 2021 push for a faculty vote of no confidence against Gonzalez and her trustee allies. A 2022 election that saw former college president and Gonzalez critic Joel Kinnamon join the board and flip the majority to his favor. A threatened recall that never materialized. Whispers that Gonzalez is a puppet of Latino politicians based in the eastern portion of the Coachella Valley who have increasingly clashed over resources with pols in the wealthier, whiter western communities.

And, of course, there are the billboards, which have shifted up and down the 10 since the beginning of 2023. They’ve become such a part of the region’s life that Gonzalez recently told me she’s used to having strangers stare at her before asking if she’s that woman.

“I have to laugh,” the 55-year-old said as we enjoyed bowls of split pea soup at a diner in Desert Hot Springs, “because what else can I do?”

The brawl has grown so contentious that the city of Palm Springs sued College of the Desert in 2022 for failing to turn over documents related to land use decisions, in alleged violation of the California Public Records Act. Kinnamon got into a physical altercation in January with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1167 President Joe Duffle, a Gonzalez ally, with each accusing the other of starting the fight.

Kinnamon didn’t respond to repeated requests for an interview. Meanwhile, Promises Made Promises Broken — which the Desert Sun, the local newspaper, has described as “worrisome” for its refusal to disclose its members or donors — has flanked its anti-Gonzalez billboards with mailers and video ads as the group seeks to defeat her at the ballot box in November.

“If you know an election is coming, the smart thing to do is to create a negative perception far in advance,” Promises Made Promises Broken spokesperson Bruce Hoban said. “This Bea thing with ‘No, no, no, no, no’ at every trustee meeting is nerve-racking. It’s just relentless.”

Gonzalez is warm and self-effacing, with a good laugh. She said of the long campaign against her: “I think [opponents] are scratching their heads and thinking, ‘OK, we’re attacking her. We’re shaming her, and she won’t stop.’ But I really think these people have no clue the investment that I made into my community for years.”

Born and raised in Indio, Gonzalez is a College of the Desert alumna and has worked as an administrator for the Coachella Valley Unified School District for nearly 30 years. A longtime community activist, she ran for the community college district board in 2020 after hearing complaints from former students about shoddy facilities and a lack of classes and majors.

“You and I know,” Gonzalez said, “that if you want to change something, you have to be inside. And that there’s no other way.”

When she assumed office, the mother of two went through staff reports on the long-proposed new campus project. It was originally planned for northern Palm Springs, but Kinnamon announced in 2014 that the district wanted to take over a long-abandoned mall downtown and build there. Two years later, voters passed a $577-million bond to help fund that project and other improvements for existing facilities.

Gonzalez said that she’s not opposed to a new campus in principle but that putting it in Palm Springs makes no sense since there’s already a smaller facility there, and far more students reside in cities such as Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs, which she represents.

“And so to me, I was, like, ‘Wait a minute, what is going on here?’ And all of a sudden, there was this outrage from the entire West Valley, and all these attacks started — and I mean, they went all in. Every time I would vote no on a contract or ask a lot of questions — boom! Billboard No. 1. Boom! Billboard No. 2.”

She smiled. “I figure by now, I should have at least 20.”

Hoban, the Promises Made Promises Broken spokesperson, said he didn’t “know anything about College of the Desert, anything about community college” until attending a breakfast meeting in 2021 and hearing Gonzalez criticize the Palm Springs project, then finding out the board was going to cancel a proposed Cathedral City campus.

“All the plans that had been promised for 17 years were getting heavily modified or canceled and we said, ‘Wait a second. Why isn’t anything being built in the West Valley?’”

As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Promises Made Promises Broken doesn’t need to disclose its members or how it spends its money. Paperwork filed with the California secretary of state lists its officers as Palm Springs restaurateur John Shay, jeweler Theresa Applegate and Cary Davidson, a Los Angeles-based attorney and trustee at Claremont McKenna College.

An email to them requesting an interview was instead returned by Hoban, who co-chaired the campaign that defeated a 2018 measure that sought to ban short-term rentals in Palm Springs of single-family homes. Asked who else belongs to Promises Made Promises Broken, Hoban said it’s “made up of people who have always been very involved in political issues and causes, so we know our way around.”

He wouldn’t disclose how much the group spends on billboards, although he claimed the going rate in the Coachella Valley for one billboard was $500 to $4,000 a month. Whatever the amount, he said his group is “100% completely” satisfied with their investment.

“People see them, and people will talk to us, and say, ‘I didn’t realize this problem with Bea Gonzalez,’” Hoban said.

Gonzalez acknowledged that she was angry when the billboards first went up, but she has made her peace with them.

“I’m getting this because I’m doing my due diligence — I ask these questions because I want that clarity,” she said. “And when the attacks started, it just made me even more curious.”

She pulled out a letter from a manila folder that she sent to California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office asking that he investigate the use of College of the Desert’s bond money over the last 20 years.

“How can I vote yes, if a yes vote would be simply because of the intimidation? I can’t do that,” Gonzalez said.

A spokesperson with Bonta’s office said it’s “unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny, a potential or ongoing investigation.”

We finished our breakfast, then drove toward the 10 to see her billboard near Indian Canyon Drive. We parked on the freeway divider and admired it from afar as traffic sped by just feet away. I told her I vaguely remembered seeing the low-slung orange thing last summer.

Gonzalez waved at the billboard, as if to say hi. Then, she cracked up.

“Well, at least they used a good photo of me!”