Diapers, Deficits, and Donor Ties: The Questions Newsom Isn’t Answering About “Golden State Start”
California is staring down a $3 billion budget deficit for 2026-27. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has warned that structural shortfalls could run between $20 billion and $35 billion annually in the years ahead. So when Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a program on May 8 to hand 400 free diapers to every newborn born at a California hospital — regardless of family income — the timing alone was enough to raise eyebrows.
Then came the contract details.
The program, branded “Golden State Start,” is administered by Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit tapped to handle manufacturing, warehousing, and statewide distribution. The state has already committed $7.4 million from the 2025-26 budget to launch the effort, with Newsom’s Department of Finance requesting an additional $12.5 million in the 2026-27 budget proposal. Total projected commitment: nearly $20 million.
What makes that figure worth scrutinizing is not just the dollar amount. It is how the contract was awarded — and to whom.
A Procurement Process With No Real Competition
In a letter to the Legislature’s budget committees, Newsom’s Department of Finance did not just ask for the $12.5 million. It also sought exemptions from the Government Code, the Public Contract Code, and the State Administrative Manual — the statutory frameworks that require state contracts to go through competitive bidding, with multiple vendors reviewed by the Department of General Services.
The administration’s rationale? They had “already sought out vendors.” Translation: trust us.
State Sen. Roger Niello, vice chair of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, did not find that reassuring.
“The whole thing just kind of stinks,” Niello told the New York Post.
When critics pointed out that the $20 million total cost, spread across 40 million projected diapers, amounted to roughly 50 cents per diaper — against a retail price around 16 cents at major retailers — Newsom’s press office pushed back hard on social media, arguing the actual contract is $6.2 million and the per-unit cost is 15.5 cents.
The math dispute is real. But it is almost a distraction from the more substantive concern: the relationship between Baby2Baby and the Newsom family.
The Connections That Matter
Baby2Baby co-CEO Norah Weinstein sits on the board of the California Partners Project — a nonprofit co-founded and led by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the governor’s wife, focused on gender equity advocacy. The California Partners Project receives what are called “behested payments,” a mechanism through which donors direct contributions to nonprofits at the behest of an elected official.
Siebel Newsom’s organization helped facilitate the Baby2Baby partnership. The governor then personally posed for photographs alongside Baby2Baby’s co-CEOs at the program launch in San Francisco.
The administration has categorically denied any wrongdoing. Newsom’s press office called the allegations “false” and described Baby2Baby’s selection as emerging from a rigorous, competitive process. The nonprofit has a genuine track record — over 300 million diapers distributed nationally across 15 years — and its co-CEOs publicly praised the program as a meaningful step for California families.
“Golden State Start will deliver immediate relief, allowing parents to focus on what matters most — caring for their newborn,” the administration stated in its May 8 press release.
The Legislature Is Not Buying It
Whatever the merit of those assurances, California’s own legislators moved to redirect the funds. Rather than approving the $20 million for Golden State Start, the Legislature steered money toward existing diaper banks — organizations already embedded in communities and already meeting documented needs.
Critics pointed out that the program, by design, provides diapers only for the first month of a newborn’s life. Long-term low-income families are already served through other assistance channels. The result is a program that generates maximum headlines for minimum sustained impact.
It is also worth noting that the program offers diapers to all California families, regardless of income — meaning a Beverly Hills household receives the same 400 diapers as a Medi-Cal family in the Central Valley. Proponents frame this as equitable. Others call it poorly targeted spending during a fiscal crisis.
What is evident is that the questions surrounding Golden State Start are substantial: a no-bid procurement, a nonprofit tied to the governor’s wife, a Legislature that voted to pull the plug, and an administration that has been far more focused on the optics of Mother’s Day than on the mechanics of public accountability.
California families deserve both. They are getting neither.