Villaraigosa promises to slash spending if elected CA governor: ‘No sacred cows’
When California’s next governor takes office in a year, whoever it is will have to contend with a state budget that has seen four consecutive deficits, including an estimated $18 billion shortfall this year.
With Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration expected to unveil his spending plan later this week, Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Assembly Speaker and Los Angeles Mayor who is running for governor, reached out to The Bee to discuss what he anticipates doing about that hole, including whether he would support a proposed tax on billionaire’s assets. Villaraigosa is one of eight Democrats running to replace Newsom.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Polls show a lot of voters are still undecided on the governor’s race, particularly Democratic and Independent candidates. How are you planning to reach those voters and what’s your message to them six months out from the June primary?
The message is this state is just too expensive. Most of us can’t afford to live here. Affordability is the number one issue. People work hard every single day and just feel like they can’t make it. It’s difficult for teachers, firefighters, cops, to buy a home, not to mention service workers. We have the highest gas prices in the United States of America, the second-highest utility costs, second-highest home prices. People can’t afford rent. So affordability is the most important issue.
I didn’t start talking about it because of (New York City Mayor Zohran) Mamdani. I saw this train coming down the track. People just can’t afford this state, and they’re working hard every day.
You were talking about affordability on the campaign trail six years ago. How do you feel about what’s changed since you ran for governor in 2018?
People feel it a lot more. I saw it particularly at the lower end of the economic spectrum but now it’s reached the middle class and the upper-middle class. You can’t go to a baseball game, you can’t go to a basketball game or a football game without spending hundreds of dollars. So this issue of affordability is the biggest issue there is.
All of (the other Democrats running for governor) have said we have a revenue problem. And I said, Yes, we have a revenue problem … in no small part because we have a spending problem. We spend more than we bring in. That’s not Democrat or Republican. When you’ve been a chief executive in the way that I have, you understand this.
One of the things that have been kicked around is a one-time 5% tax on billionaires. Where do you stand on that?
Should people who make billions pay more than the rest of us? Of course, but the problem with the wealth tax: because of the upper income tax and because of our over-regulating business climate, a lot of these people have left already. We pass that wealth tax, they’re all going. They’re mobile.
So I’m not philosophically against taxing them, but like Gavin, who’s been a governor and me, a mayor, I know these people are going to leave.
So I think we got to fix our broken tax system. Both Gavin and I said that six years ago, and I believe that this government’s gonna have to put the political capital (towards that). We rely too much on feast and famine, (on) the revenues that come in with selling stocks, primarily generated from very wealthy people.
Where would you look at making some cuts? Or do you have other ideas in mind to balance the budget?
There will be very few sacred cows. We’re going to have to streamline and make cuts. Anybody telling you that they’re going to deal with an $18 billion deficit and not make cuts is selling you snake oil. I’m a grown up. I know how to make tough decisions, and I know that there’s no way to get through a deficit of this kind just by raising taxes.
I think we need to free up the entrepreneurial spirit of the innovation state. We have about the same number of regulations on business that average in the country, but in terms of specificity and the constraints, (California is) a complete outlier. We’ve got to grow the economy. When I was looking at budget deficits (as mayor), I made cuts but I also made it easier to grow business in the city. You’ve got to do both.
How would you encourage efforts to diversify our economy and not make revenues too reliant on taxes from one sector, like Silicon Valley or Hollywood?
I believe and believe strongly that California is the entertainment capital of the United States of America. I don’t think we can let film leave permanently, and from what I understand from the experts, if we don’t do something serious and aggressive about keeping them here, we’re losing them. A lot of the (film) infrastructure is now in Georgia.
We’re going to have to look at film and entertainment, farming, oil and gas. Someone said, ‘Why are you defending refineries?’ I’m the only one that was talking about this stuff. What I say to people for defending refineries: I’m defending the people that drive around in pickup trucks.
A USC (analysis) says if we close down one more refinery, gas prices are going to $8.75 a gallon. I tell people, we’ve got to address affordability. We made it impossible for them (refineries) to exist. It’s why we’ve lost three refineries. We produce the cleanest fuel in the United States of America. No, we’re not going to get rid of them.
Second part of your question, tech: Yeah, we do over rely on the upper income tax, but it’s not tech so much as that a lot of people in tech make a lot of money, so we’ve got to fix the whole broken tax system.
How do you envision changing the tax system to make it more stable year to year?
(We need) a practical way to have a more consistent stream of revenues. With a broad group of stakeholders – business, labor, (environmentalists) – that you listen to and put a template together what it could look like. Because what we have now is not working for us.
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Villaraigosa promises to slash spending if elected CA governor: ‘No sacred cows’."
