By at least one metric, California’s new year got off to an unusual start, what with Pasadena’s fabled Rose Parade experiencing its first rainfall in two decades, making it just the 11th soggy parade since the tradition began back in 1890.

So much for Albert Hammond’s assurance that “it never rains in Southern California.”

This being our first at look while lies ahead in California in 2026, let’s look at four matters that could lead to rain on someone else’s parade.

A Return to Normalcy? That’s not a reference to the late Warren Harding but rather to that conservative Republican’s political opposite: California Governor Gavin Newsom.

What’s Newsom doing this year that suggests a return to a more traditional governing style after a 2025 during which he devoted considerable time and treasure to raising his national profile (i.e., a prelude to a presidential run in 2028)?

It’s called the annual State of the State Address, which on Thursday morning returns to its traditional time (the month of January) and venue (the State Capitol and both legislative chambers in attendance) after a five-year hiatus.

Decades ago, when I helped draft such addresses for then Governor Pete Wilson, our administration chose an early January speech date for two reasons.

First, as Wilson was a Republican staring down an unfriendly Democratic legislature, giving the big speech set the tone for confrontations to come in the months ahead over fiscal and political matters.

The other consideration: By the mid-to-late 1990s, Wilson was but one of thirty-plus GOP governors nationwide, all preaching the same sermon of lower taxes, better public schools, and stricter crime statutes (one of those governors being future President George W. Bush).

Should Newsom fully return to the normal—a lengthy address with a weighty agenda—it would. mark a welcome change from past addresses when California’s governor either sounded like a one-string banjo (i.e., 2000’s address devoted mostly to homelessness) or a chief executive seemingly mailing it in (which Newsom literally did last year, in lieu of a speech, sending a letter to the legislature that was more about bashing President Trump than offering a vision of the Golden State’s future).

So what has Newsom in a hurry to give a big speech only eight days into the new year (never has Newsom offered a State of the State

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