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The Gann limit hovers over the California capitol like an ominous cloud on an otherwise sunny day.

Despite massive tax revenues and a discretionary budget surplus of $20.6 billion (with a strong potential to exceed this amount by $15 billion), the state must abide by an arbitrary spending cap adopted over 40 years ago - the Gann limit. This limit severely restrains any new investment by the Governor and Legislature.

Budget advocacy is already very challenging. The Gann limit ensures advocates will battle a terrible headwind in 2022, especially for spending proposals that do not meet the narrow exclusions allowed by Gann.

Today I talk with Scott Graves, Research Director at the California Budget and Policy Center, a non-profit and non-partisan research group based in Sacramento. We break down the Gann limit and discuss what's at stake for advocates as they advance their FY 22-23 budget proposals.

We discuss:

01:59 - What is the Gann limit?

06:49 - What are the state's options for dealing with the Gann limit?

08:24 - What is infrastructure spending?

09:26 - What qualifies as emergency spending?

12:18 - What about reducing revenue?

13:24 - What does this mean for advocates?

16:54 - Wait, there's more: how Gann interacts with Prop 98 and Prop 2 is creating even bigger problems for advocates (and the Governor)

22:03 - The Gann limit will continue to be a problem for advocates after 2022

23:41 - How can we fix the Gann limit?

Hosted by Kristina Bas Hamilton, founder of KBH Advocacy.

Find me on twitter at @kbashamilton.

This episode is sponsored by:

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