Questions on AI and a budget deficit await returning California lawmakers

California lawmakers are returning to work for an election-year legislative session

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers return to work on Wednesday for the start of an election-year legislative session dominated by decisions on artificial intelligence and the state's struggling budget.

The budget is a big issue every year in California, which is the nation's most populous state and has an economy larger than that of all but four countries. But this year, lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom will have to figure out how to cover an estimated $68 billion deficit — a shortfall that is larger than the entire operating budgets of many states.

And with California companies at the forefront of the artificial intelligence boom, a number of state lawmakers are eyeing new rules to govern the use of the technology before it can dominate daily life — much like social media has.

The California Legislature is scheduled to convene Wednesday afternoon, giving lawmakers a week to settle in before Newsom sends over his first budget plan. Cutting the budget is never easy, but it's especially difficult in an election year when many legislators must then ask voters in November to reelect them.

Plus, lawmakers will be following a pair of new leaders as they navigate their first budget negotiations, an arduous process that happens mostly behind closed doors and requires gaining consensus among the Democrats who control a majority of seats in the Legislature. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas took over last summer, and incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire is scheduled to take over next month.