to paraphrase the old 1992 Clinton campaign slogan. States like California went on a spending spree in the 1990s when they stupidly believed the overheated revenue gains would last forever. According to this op-ed piece, (emphasis added):

The California story is actually quite straightforward. During the 1990s boom years, Gov. Gray Davis found his state revenues surging along with the stock market. He responded by jacking up government spending almost 40%. When the stock market and economy softened, revenues were no longer sufficient to maintain that sharply higher level of spending. The gigantic fiscal crisis that ensued created a media frenzy and a historic vote on recalling the governor.

So, California Democrats (who control the governorship [at least for now], both houses of the legislature, and virtually every other major office in the state) went on an unsupportable spending spree and it's Bush's fault that the economy began slowing down in 2000 (months before he took office)? Yeah, right.

Interesting little table in the linked article, isn't it?