Gavin Newsom staffer receives 50K payout for unused vacation time

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disgraced former chief of staff, who stepped down amid a federal fraud investigation, received a $50,000 payout on her way out, according to a report.

Dana Williamson used roughly $30,000 in unused vacation time to remain on California’s payroll through Jan. 31 — seven weeks after the governor’s office confirmed her departure, according to state payroll records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

In addition, she received a lump-sum payment of about $22,000 for the remaining unused vacation hours she had accrued, the payroll records show.

Williamson was arrested in November and faces a sweeping 23-count indictment that accuses her of plotting with accomplices to swipe $225,000 from an inactive political campaign and funnel it straight into a friend’s pocket.

Under California state employment policy, workers earn paid vacation each month and may carry forward unused time. When they leave state service, they are paid for any remaining vacation hours.

Most employees are limited to 640 hours of accrued leave, but the cap is not always enforced. Because payouts are calculated using an employee’s final salary, large balances of unused vacation can result in substantial lump-sum payments, as was the case with Williamson.

“That’s shocking, honestly,” Assemblyman Josh Hoover told The Times.

The massive payout reflects a concerning trend in the California state government.

The state now owes about $5.6 billion for unused vacation and leave.

In 2025 alone, California paid $453 million to roughly 21,000 departing workers, including 80 employees who received more than $250,000 and 1,081 who received over $100,000.

The liability has grown from $3.9 billion in 2019, partly because employees accumulate large leave balances and the state sometimes grants additional time off instead of pay raises during budget shortfalls.

“This problem is systemic within California government and no one seems willing to take it on,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

“At the same time, they are clamoring that there is a budget crisis. I suspect they will continue to kick the can down the road.”

Coupal added that lawmakers in the California State Capitol appear to have little willingness to confront the state’s rapidly growing costs for unused vacation and leave benefits.

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