The Covid-19 pandemic may have wreaked havoc with many parts of the state’s economy, but California managed to finish 2020 with a $15 billion surplus.

California, which relies heavily on income tax collections from wealthy residents, had a strong fiscal year due to high returns from a strong stock market,.

“The state is in much better financial condition to avoid the very large cuts that they’ve had to do in the past that cut significant services right when California residents needed it the most,” Dora Lee, the director of research at Belle Haven Investments, told Bloomberg News.

“The California budget is in some ways a situation where some other states might be envious and would like to be in,” Lee added.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would use the budget surplus to bolster the state’s public education system, spur a broad economy recover and pay down almost $10 billion in state debt.