Right up against the June 15 deadline last week, the California State Legislature sent Governor Newsom an approved budget package for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.

Though Newsom now has until July 1 to sign the $312 billion budget, several key issues are still under negotiations, including how to close this year’s $31 billion-plus gap – a projection below the $35 billion recommendation of the state’s Legislative Analyst’s office.

Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders are still debating funding for critical services, including child care, public transit spending, prison closures, and major changes to the state’s permitting and building processes for projects with environmental impacts, including the long-debated Delta Tunnel water system.

“Newsom clearly has made abortion one of his top priorities, putting him at odds with his state’s bishops, according to Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference. “Last year alone, he allocated over $200 million in public funds to pay for abortion and abortion-related services for women in California and those coming to California for abortion…. Under Newsom’s leadership, California is hosting a website devoted to finding abortion services and is considering spending money on a public-relations campaign to denounce pregnancy-resource centers.”

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom couldn’t be more polarized in their policies, yet they are remarkably similar in their ambitions and degree of visibility, making them well-matched contenders in the political ring.

In the latest bout highlighting their differences, Newsom is threatening to charge DeSantis with kidnapping for sending asylum-seeking migrants from Venezuela and Colombia to California. The DeSantis administration has acknowledged responsibility for the flights, which have been condemned by California officials as a stunt. In a similar move, DeSantis in September 2022 arranged for two planes of immigrants to be flown to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts to call attention to the Biden administration’s border policies.

Continue Reading at NationalCatholicRegister.com

OSV News – When renowned science fiction author Robert Heinlein wrote in his apocalyptic 1952 short story "The Year of the Jackpot" that "the Colorado River was at a record low and the towers in Lake Mead stood high out of the water. But the Angelenos committed communal suicide by watering lawns as usual," such a scenario was still the stuff of fantasy.

But imagination sometimes has an uncomfortable ability to become reality. The American Southwest is in the grip of a megadrought that jeopardizes the Colorado River, and with it, water supplies for major U.S. population centers and farm producers.

Continue Reading at TrentonMonitor.com

The Diocese of Fresno is hosting a day of reflection and healing for all victims of crime at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers on July 8.

The event will take place from 8am to 5pm and will include a healing Mass that will be celebrated by Bishop Joseph Brennan.

The USCCB is celebrating Religious Freedom Week from June 22 through June 29. This year’s theme is ‘Embracing the Divine Gift of Freedom,’ with each day dedicated to praying, reflecting, and taking action on different facets of religious liberty in the U.S. and abroad.

Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and serve the good of all. When we promote religious freedom, we promote the common good and thus strengthen the life of our nation and the community of nations.

Click here to learn more and for materials, including graphics and lectionary notes. You can also text “FREEDOM” to 84576 to receive USCCB news updates and action alerts.