The contours of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on California's state budget are coming into sharper focus: An updated projection estimates state general fund revenues will plunge by more than $41 billion from what was expected in January.
But the projected deficit is even deeper.
The $41.2 billion shortfall, combined with $7.1 billion in additional caseloads for health and safety programs and unanticipated expenditures of $6 billion mostly related to the COVID-19 response, signal an overall budget deficit of $54.3 billion.
Of that, state finance officials project roughly a quarter of the shortfall will occur in the current fiscal year, with the rest falling on Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature to deal with in its upcoming budget negotiations over next year's budget, which starts July 1.
But California won't know the full extent of its revenue shortfall until August, after the July 15 deadline for paying income taxes, which account for two-thirds of California's general fund revenues.