I'm sure they can, but like you said - it's all political.
From what I know, WA state uses real estate tax as one of the primary revenue streams (in addition to sales tax), whereas CA also has income tax. CA and WA seem to have similar sales taxes, so the main difference in funding is in WA not having an income tax.
There are many more differences, but I don't know if those are for a "good reason" or bloat. My personal biases make me lean to CA budgets being bloated...
From what I know, WA state uses real estate tax as one of the primary revenue streams (in addition to sales tax), whereas CA also has income tax. CA and WA seem to have similar sales taxes, so the main difference in funding is in WA not having an income tax.
There are many more differences, but I don't know if those are for a "good reason" or bloat. My personal biases make me lean to CA budgets being bloated...