Newsom Wants Taxpayer Money For Vanity Project That Arnold Schwarzenegger Self-Funded

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants state taxpayers to shell out $33,000 for an official gubernatorial self-portrait, despite former GOP California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger privately paying for his.

Newsom released his final “Governor’s Proposed Budget” for 2026-2027 on Jan. 9, leaving the state Legislature to review it until revisions are made in May. Within the proposal, Newsom included a $33,000 budget line as “state operations” for a governor’s portrait, which would be paid out of California’s general fund.

While the proposed allocation aligns with California’s longstanding tradition and state law requiring an oil portrait of each governor upon retirement, the budget request comes as the last two governors did not use taxpayer dollars and the state faces another major deficit.

Before Newsom, former Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown, who served from 2011 to 2019, did not set aside budget funds for a governor’s portrait. Instead, Brown used his 1984 portrait by Don Bachardy, which had been created to commemorate his first two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983.

Schwarzenegger also did not use taxpayer dollars for his final gubernatorial portrait after serving from 2003 to 2011. Although funds could have been allocated, Schwarzenegger, whose portrait was painted by Gottfried Helnwein in 2014, paid for it privately using his own money.

Newsom’s office did not respond to the