Newsom Spends $20M To Cut Waste — Irony

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Newsom Spends $20M To Cut Waste — Irony

California hired a heavyweight consultant to find billions in savings. The price tag? Up to $20 million.

On paper, it sounds smart. Hire experts. Pinpoint waste. Clean up the budget. In practice, it looks like bureaucracy paying bureaucracy.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an order aiming to cut spending across several big agencies. The target was $2 billion by the 2028–29 fiscal year. The departments included Corrections and Rehabilitation, Social Services, and Health Care Services.

The state contracted Boston Consulting Group for the job. BCG even hired Ana J. Matosantos, a former Newsom cabinet secretary and ex-Department of Finance director. Still, legislative analysts now expect only about $810 million in savings. That’s a long way from $2 billion.

Some lawmakers are flat-out puzzled. “This whole Boston Consulting Group contract has me mystified,” Republican state Assemblymember Tom Lackey said during a legislative hearing, according to Politico.

It’s a juicy political problem. You pay millions to find cuts, then report much smaller results. It looks bad either way. If the cuts are real, Newsom has to own unpopular decisions. If consultants take the hit, taxpayers lose millions for modest returns.

Critics say this lets the governor dodge responsibility. Supporters will argue that outside firms bring fresh eyes. Both sides have a point. But spending large sums to find savings raises a simple question: why not start inside the administration?

There’s also optics. California is facing a multibillion-dollar budget gap. Voters and lawmakers want hard choices. Dropping $20 million on consultants to tell officials where to trim feels like theater to many.

Whatever you think of Newsom politically, the math matters. If you promise big cuts, you should deliver. If not, be ready to explain the bill.

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