Gov. Gavin Newsom has paid upwards of $20 million to a consulting firm that employs his former cabinet secretary to eliminate wasteful spending — but the effort has come up well short of the goal as state lawmakers blasted the move.
Newsom — who signed an executive order to cut spending in the state, à la Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficienc is hitting roadblocks with the plan amid a multibillion-dollar state budget deficit.
California contracted with one of the world’s largest consulting firms, Boston Consulting Group, for up to $20 million in an effort to cut $2 billion in spending from the departments of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Social Services, and Health Care Services by the 2028-’29 fiscal year.
But the group — which hired former Newsom cabinet Secretary and Department of Finance Director Ana J. Matosantos — is now expected to only find $810 million in savings, according to legislative analysts.
That number may even go down later in May, analysts added, as indicated by the Newsom administration.
Hellbound and Down 