The State Budget
By Rebecca Gonzales, Director of Government Relations and Political Affairs
The Governor released his proposed budget on January 9, 2015. We are happy to report that tax revenues have come in higher than expected and we should not experience a budget shortfall. With the strengthened economy we have more money in the budget to fund state services, but the Governor is determined to keep state spending down despite the extra revenue. Since Proposition 98 set up a minimum funding guarantee for the schools, most of the new money in the budget will be allocated to K-12 education and to the community colleges.
We were disappointed that the Governor did not have any significant proposals to reinstate funding to human services programs that were cut during the recession. We will work alongside other supporters of strengthening the safety net to reduce poverty in this state. Advocates will work together to increase SSI/SSP and CalWORKs grants, increase child care slots, increase funding for Adult Protective Services program training, and to increase funding for foster parent recruitment and retention.
In the 2014-15 budget, the Legislature deposited $1.6 billion in the state’s budget reserve. This was before the passage of Proposition 2, which strictly limits how money can be withdrawn from this fund. We expect there to be considerable debate on whether we should spend this money to restore programs that were cut during the recession, or if the $1.6 billion should stay in the budget stabilization account.
The full Budget Committees in the Assembly and Senate have both held overview hearings. The real work on the budget will commence in mid to late February.
Stay tuned for more updates.
