State Budget Blues and Dues

We previously did an article on Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed January Budget which you can view here. The Governor’s “May Revise” was released on May 9th and it highlighted the changes to the previously proposed January budget. To read the full synopsis click the button below.

• The newly updated $213 billion dollar budget is $4.5 billion more than January’s Budget (ebudget.ca.gov)
• Voter-mandated rainy day fund increases to $16.5 billion which is $1.5 billion more than January’s proposed budget (Mercurynews)
• The general fund portion of the budget is now $147 billion which is $3 billion more than January’s proposed budget (ebudget.ca.gov)
• K-12 education would extend from January’s $80.7 billion to a slight increase of $81.1 billion. This would “provide approximately $5,000 more per pupil than 8 years ago”. K-12 funding accounts for 45% of the state budget which is a little over the 40% that is required. (LATimes)
• Newsom plans to address the growing issue of homelessness in California by increasing the original spending plan of $625 million to an even $1 billion. The Governor calls California’s homeless crisis “a stain on the state of California”. (SacBee)
• An increase of 1.4 billion more from January’s budget to make a total of $15 billion will be allocated “to building resiliency and paying down the state’s unfunded liabilities”. This will help to prepare the government in case of a recession. (LATimes)

Even with an estimated surplus of $21.5 billion, Governor Newsom still plans to propose new taxes on water bills “to help pay to clean up polluted drinking water in disadvantaged communities (KQED)”. The state’s new fiscal year begins on July 1st, and Lawmakers have until June 15th to approve a final budget.