California Legislators Pass Budget Package to Governor

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Lawmakers carved out a budget deal that garnered six Republican votes in the state Assembly and Senate, just enough to pass the 34 bills by the mandatory two-thirds margin. The deal includes $15 billion in spending cuts, $12.8 billion in temporary tax increases and $11.4 billion in borrowing, leaving a $1 billion reserve.

The package includes eight provisions that need to be approved by voters. Federal stimulus dollars could also change the amount of cuts and taxes.

K-12 and higher education will receive less funding, but accounting maneuvers will limit the amount of programmatic cuts. Education makes up 39 percent of the budget. Check out some of the education changes below in Senate Bill X3 4.

Proposition 98
The proposition requires the state to set a minimum funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges.

• Total Reductions: $8.6 billion
• Program cuts: $2.65 billion. No cuts to special education, economic impact aid, K-3 class size reduction and school lunches.
• Deferral from the current year to budget year: $2.8 billion
• Using the Public Transit Account rather than the General Fund for home-to-school transportation: $618 million
• Counting current year appropriation toward Prop. 98 "settle-up": $1.1 billion

Higher Education

• The University of California and the California State University systems will not receive any funding from the Higher Education Compact
• Ten percent across-the-board cut
• Reduced costs for retirement contributions

For the complete text of SBX3 4 on education, visit the Legislative Counsel of California.

For research and analysis, visit the Legislative Analyst's Office.

For a brief summary of the budget changes, visit the newsroom of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.



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