Walters: Spending error still haunts Newsom’s California budget

Fashioning a budget for a state as large and diverse as California is a fraught process under the best of circumstances, involving not only strictly financial aspects but demands from countless interest groups and the internal politics of the Capitol.

That said, what happened three years ago, as Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators were finalizing a 2022-23 budget, remains one of the most egregious errors of fiscal judgment in state history, and looms over the budget process today.

As...