San Mateo County lawmakers were left wondering how a larger portion of the unanticipated revenue padding California’s budget can be dedicated toward homelessness and education after Gov. Jerry Brown included upticks in the state revenue and surplus in his revised state budget Friday.
In adjusting the budget he proposed in January to include an additional $8 billion in revenue and an increase in the state surplus from the $6 billion projected in January to nearly $9 billion, Brown balanced his trademark fiscally-prudent approach with additional spending, proposing nearly $4 billion in one-time spending from the projected $137.6 billion general fund budget.
Though he proposed an additional $2 billion toward infrastructure projects at universities, flood control measures and other state facilities, $359 million aimed to fund emergency assistance with issues of homelessness and another $312 million to cover mental health services in his last May budget revision, Brown made sure to set aside some $14 billion in California’s rainy-day fund to weather the effects of future economic downturns.
“This is a time to save for our future, not to make pricey promises we can’t keep,” he said. “I said it before and I’ll say it again: Let’s not blow it now.”
Acknowledging Brown’s legacy of fiscal responsibility, local legislators said they plan to push for even more spending on homelessness and health programs and education funding to support schools and programs for students of all ages. Though Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, was encouraged by Brown’s focus on conserving funds for an upcoming recession, he hoped the governor and legislators would be able to meet in the middle as the Legislature discusses spending on the state’s most pressing issues.
“I think the governor’s prudent approach will benefit us in the long run,” he said. “But let’s not neglect the needs that we have right now.”
Though increasing access to health care and bringing early childhood education funding back to pre-recession levels top the priorities for Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco, he said the spread of homelessness throughout the state calls for a more focused response from state leaders, adding that could include a special session of the legislators.
“The homelessness crisis calls out for a statewide emergency response,” he said. “We would like to see more money in the budget to address that, the governor’s budget is inadequate.”
Mullin was joined by Berman, state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo in pegging education programs for additional funds in the coming weeks. For Hill, advocating for increased funding for K-12 schools so students are prepared to join the local economy is expected to be a priority, noting even fully funding schools today is not keeping pace with their rising costs.
“We’re giving them more money, but their costs have gone up faster than their revenue when you look at the pension costs they are saddled with and the special education [programs], costs have outpaced the increased revenues,” he said.
Berman was encouraged to see $100 million in deferred maintenance dedicated to both the University of California and California State University systems, but was disappointed to see the increase in funding for the two systems remain at 3 percent in the next fiscal year, noting the schools continue to face pressure to keep tuition costs down.
State Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, joined other Senate Republicans in supporting a release of $3 billion in voter-approved K-12 school bonds in the 2018-19 fiscal year as well as a requirement at least $3 billion is spent on construction and repair projects at schools in need.
“If the governor is unwilling to release voter-approved bond funding, the state should immediately commit part of the growing budget surplus to school construction and modernization projects,” she said in a statement.
Though Brown acknowledged the volatility of the state’s revenue and its reliance on income tax, he expressed doubt his support for a comprehensive tax reform bill alone would create the needed changes, noting it would require support from many other stakeholders. Hill did not have illusions tax reform could be implemented within Brown’s term, but he was hopeful legislators could begin meaningful conversations about how it could be accomplished now so they can accelerate the process under the next governor.
Though Mullin acknowledged the complexity of comprehensive tax reform effort, he described the governor’s deferral of the tax reform issue as a glaring omission from this budget cycle and said he would keep pushing for it when a new administration takes shape.
“I wish he would have made more of an attempt to address the volatility of our taxes,” he said. “Inevitably that curve will change, and we will be in a recession period and we just need to have a more stable stream of revenue for our budgeting so we can truly ride out our recession years.”
(3) comments
I would like to ask these politicians about how best to pay for the hundreds of billions in unfunded pension liabilities the state has. I'm sure the response will be to kick that can down the road, just like Californian politicians always do.
Fully restore funding to all social environmental programs!
Wow a surplus, see what happens when you pay tons of taxes in this state? Not putting car thieves in jail is also a big money saver, why build more jails? That would cost money, better to lessen the severity of crime in order to deal with the overcrowding,
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