The post-partisanship idea was tested when it came to the budget. It took 52 days after the deadline for the Legislature to send the State Budget to the Governor. The Assembly passed the budget on July 20, which the Senate passed on August 21. The Senate Republicans delayed the budget because they wanted $842.4 million deleted from it.
The Governor signed the Budget on August 24, reducing it by $700 million. The budget package provided for General Fund expenditures of $102.3 billion. The State Budget totaled $145 billion, which included federal funds. The State Budget provided a $4.1 billion reserve, fully funded education and public safety, no new taxes, and paying down the state's debt.
The Legislative Analyst indicated, based on the 2007-08 budget plan policies, the state would face operating shortfalls of more than $10 billion in 2008-09. At the time of this writing, the Governor's Office indicated that state agencies may have to cut 10% for the 2008 State Budget.
Some of the highlights of the State Budget included:
Education
The 2007 Budget Act fully funds Proposition 98 and K-12 education with a $66.8 billion ($41.4 billion General Fund, $25.4 billion from other funds) investment. The budget also maintains the Higher Education Compact with the University of California and California State University for the third straight year, providing $19.7 billion in funding from all revenue sources. Highlights include:
1. K-12
A. Per-pupil funding: Provides total per-pupil funding of $11,541 in 2007-08, a 21% increase in per-pupil funding since the Governor took office.
B. Proposition 98: Fully funds Proposition 98 at $57.1 billion, a 22% increase since the Governor took office. The Budget Act replaces $429 million in ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund dollars with funding from the Public Transportation Account and the Proposition 98 Reversion Account.
C. Career Technical Education: Provides $52 million ($20 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funding and $32 million from other sources) to enhance career technical education programs.
D. STAR Testing: Provides $2.1 million in Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the second grade Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program.
E.Collecting Student Data: Provides $3.9 million to support the development of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.
F. Child Care: $3.3 billion for K-12 child care programs to provide almost 950,000 child care slots. The budget also continues $50 million in Proposition 98 funding for the first phase of a three-year initiative to expand preschool opportunities for four-year olds residing in attendance areas of schools ranked in the lowest three deciles of the 2005 Academic Performance Index.
2. Higher Education
A. University of California: Funded at over $5.4 billion, including almost $3.3 billion General Fund. This is 6.8% above the 2006-07 budget.
B. California State University: Funded at nearly $4.4 billion, including approximately $3 billion General Fund. This is 6.9% above the 2006-07 budget.
C. California Community Colleges: Funded at more than $8.5 billion, including approximately $4.5 billion General Fund. This is 3.8% above the revised 2006-07 budget level.
Law and Order
The 2007 Budget Act continues the Governor's commitment to public safety by fully funding local law enforcement and critical resources to fight and prosecute crime. The 2007-08 budget includes more than $600 million for local law enforcement, including:
$1.8 billion and 11,214 positions for support of the Department of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). This is an increase of $231.5 million over the 2006-07 budget.
$106 million General Fund for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to implement the Comprehensive Sex Offender Management Plan, which includes Jessica's Law enforcement and global positioning system devices for paroled sex offenders.
$41.7 million to continue the replacement of the CHP's outdated radio system, and $16.6 million to add 120 uniformed and 41 non-uniformed CHP positions.
$25.5 million for various programs to support anti-gang efforts, including a $9.5 million Restitution Fund for local anti-gang programs.
$6.7 million Restitution Fund for the California Witness Protection Program, allowing the Department of Justice to better support district attorneys in protecting witnesses and their families.
$2 million to put a DNA project in place that will provide automated fingerprint verification systems throughout all California law enforcement agencies, enhancing the efficiency of the state's DNA collection efforts.
Environmental Protection
The 2007 Budget Act continues Governor Schwarzenegger's commitment to our environment by directing more than $250 million to improve our air quality and providing nearly $25 million to fight global warming, including:
$250 million in Proposition 1B funding to improve air quality along California's main highways and trade corridors.
$105.3 million to reduce pollution in our water sources and fund local community clean-water projects.
$23.7 million for implementation of AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act.
$6.03 million for the Governor's Hydrogen Highway Initiative, to further diversify the use of alternative transportation fuels in California.
$3.1 million to accelerate the cleanup of brownfield sites.
Programs for At-Risk California Residents
The 2007 Budget Act maintains a wide range of critical services for many of California's most vulnerable and at-risk residents, including:
$4.1 billion ($1.6 billion General Fund) to support child welfare, including abuse prevention, foster care and adoption and foster care services, a 4.5% increase over revised 2006 Budget Act levels.
$1.1 billion ($398.7 million General Fund) to fully fund the Healthy Families Program, an increase of $93.6 million above the revised 2006 Budget Act level. The 2007 Budget Act includes $58.9 million to maximize enrollment in the Healthy Families Program, increase retention and help counties enroll eligible kids.
$288.9 million to fully fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. This funding brings services to more than 32,900 clients in 2007-08.
$133 million for Access for Infants and Mothers program, an $8.8 million increase above the revised 2006 Budget Act level.
$118.4 million to help screen newborns and pregnant women for genetic and congenital disorders, a net increase of $20.7 million above the 2006 Budget Act.
Reducing Prison Overcrowding and Increasing Rehabilitation
The 2007 Budget Act, along with AB 900, provides significant funding to reduce crisis levels of overcrowding in our prisons, continue the state's efforts to improve rehabilitation programs, reform the juvenile justice system in California and meet various court requirements, including:
$90.1 million for inmate education programs, community partnerships, parolee services, institutions rehabilitative and treatment programs, and research and support services.
$24 million to provide counties with resources to provide housing and services to juvenile offenders that, due to changes in state law, will no longer be housed in Division of Juvenile Justice facilities or supervised by the Division of Juvenile Parole Operations and will now be the responsibility of local jurisdictions.
$24.2 million in 2007-08 to transfer 5,060 inmates to out-of-state facilities.
$11.9 million ($2.4 million General Fund and $9.5 million in Reimbursement authority) for the CDCR's Office of Facilities Management and Support Services Division to address workload associated with AB 900 prison construction projects.
$1.7 million General Fund for the Corrections Standards Authority to administer the local jail bed construction grants authorized by AB 900.
AB 900, the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, appropriates $50 million for additional rehabilitative programming activities. AB 900 authorizes over $6.1 billion in lease-revenue bonds to build 16,000 infill beds, 16,000 reentry facility beds, and 8,000 health care beds, and authorizes $1.2 billion in lease-revenue bonds to add 13,000 county jail beds. AB 900 also appropriates $300 million to make infrastructure improvements at state prisons.
Budget and Trailer Legislation
The following list is budget legislation enacted by the Legislature and signed by the Governor:
SB 77 Ducheny Budget Bill (conference report)
SB 78 Ducheny Budget Bill revisions
SB 79 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Transportation
SB 80 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Education
SB 81 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Corrections
SB 82 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Commiteee Justice
SB 84 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Human Services
SB 85 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Resources
SB 86 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee General Government
SB 87 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Taxation
SB 88 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Proposition1B
SB 89 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee EdFund
SB 90 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Information Technology
SB 91 Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee EdFund
SB 97 Dutton California Environmental Quality Act
AB 199 Assembly Budget Committee General Government revisions
AB 201 Assembly Budget Committee Proposition 1B revisions
AB 203 Assembly Budget Committee Health
Legislation which made changes to the above included:
AB 191 Assembly Budget Committee Juvenile Justice
AB 192 Assembly Budget Committee State Government
AB 193 Assembly Budget Committee Transportation funding
AB 194 Assembly Budget Committee Budget revisions
AB 195 Assembly Budget Committee Health Care
AB 196 Assembly Budget Committee Transportation Bond funds
NOTE: See the Budget under the Revenue and Taxation Section of this book (Volume II) for detailed provisions of the above bills.