Walters: Newsom’s final budget faces a litany of political and financial challenges

On paper, the annual process of drafting a state budget is rational. In practice, it’s more akin to gimmickry.

It starts, as state law requires, with the governor’s introduction of a preliminary version in January, as Gavin Newsom did last week, unveiling a $349 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Theoretically, the Legislature will spend the next four months going through its details, Newsom will make some revisions in May, and he and legislators will finalize...