Newsom promised to help Californians build new careers. Now, the money is running out
Adam Echelman
June 18, 2026
In summary
Gov Gavin Newsom made job training and the creation of a master plan for career education part of his agenda. Now, key workforce initiatives may get no new funding.
Standing in a West Sacramento high school cafeteria in 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised fundamental reforms to the state’s job training programs. A few months later, he was in front of a fire truck in Modesto, and later, in a welding classroom in Redding, making the same promise.
It was a “point of pride,” Newsom said last year.
Now, a handful of those reforms are underway. A new inter-agency council, designed to increase collaboration among workforce providers, is meeting next week. The state is also developing a new kind of digital resume that would help students and workers consolidate information about their work experience and education.
But as the state faces yet another budget deficit, a flagship workforce program could be forced to scale back. One of the state’s leading agencies for coordinating workforce training, the California Workforce Development Board, could lose 20% of its staff.
