Op-ed by Marc Joffe, includes “California’s 2020 audited financial statements are over four months late, so according to the state’s 2019 audited financial statement, the state government and its component units … have a total of $359 billion in long-term obligations. … With a surprise $75 billion budget surplus this year, California’s flush financial situation was an opportunity to use the surplus to pay down some of the wall of debt, but, instead, leaders in Sacramento have largely opted to spend that money on shorter-term priorities. …”