When California’s budget surplus was in the tens of billions two years ago, legislators passed a law that would expand the state’s nationally renowned free-tuition and cash aid program to an additional 137,000 college students by fall 2024 — but only if the money is there. Whether the Cal Grant tuition program grows will play out in the next two months, as state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom grapple with a budget deficit now estimated at between $38 billion and $73 billion, depending on whom you ask.Early signs suggest California’s upcoming budget, which legislators and the governor must finalize by late June, won’t be able to shoulder the new expenses.
