AIUI, one reason California is in a constant fiscal crisis is that it takes a supermajority to raise taxes and other constitutional provisions mandate how a certain proportion of the budget should be spent. So it's much harder for California legislators to negotiate a budget than for Texas legislators.
The California legislature seems to meet constantly, and regularly spends time in extended sessions trying to pass overdue budgets in a never-ending fiscal crisis. California doesn't get any benefit from the extra official time its legislators put in, and Texas legislators aren't busy preplanning legislation the entire time they're out of session.
Given the fickleness of public opinion, there are natural limits as to how much planning months' ahead of time can help.