We converse on California's state budget with Gabe Petek, Legislative Analyst for the State of California. He explains California's dueling state budget deficit figures; why the current revenue shortfall is different than the 2008 recession; how much of California's budget woes are "structural" vs. "cyclical"; how he and Governor Newsom propose to address the budget deficit; why economic mobility matters to state budgeting; and how Gabe's prior life in Muniland shapes his views the Legislative Analyst's role, among many other topics. In Ripped from the Headlines, we discuss a story about how a new education program in Maryland is leading to large projected budget deficits over the next few years.