evidence: This is the second year in a row the nation’s most populous state is facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall. State revenues have continued to fall amid increasing inflation and a slowdown in the state’s usually robust technology industry. [...] Newsom proposed a $288 billion spending plan on Friday for the fiscal year that starts July 1. That is well below the nearly $311 billion budget he signed into law last year. But it is still by far the largest of any state in the country. New York recently passed a $237 billion budget, and Texas and Florida spend far less annually. [...] California’s constitution requires lawmakers and the governor to balance the budget — meaning the state can’t spend more money than it has. That means they have to either find more money by raising taxes, which Newsom doesn’t want to do, or find ways to cut, shift or delay spending. Newsom’s proposal focuses mostly on cuts, but it will also dip into reserve funding.