Governor Proposes Deep Budget Cuts

Governor Makes Deep Cuts to the Safety Net and Assumes Voters Approve November Ballot Measure

On Thursday, January 5, Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed 2012-13 spending plan, addressing a $9.2 billion projected shortfall for the remainder of 2011-12 and the upcoming 2012-13 fiscal years. The Proposed Budget was released five days early after a staffer inadvertently posted budget documents to a public website. The Governor proposes $10.3 billion in “solutions” to close the identified gap and provide a $1.1 billion budget reserve. The gap stems from a $4.1 billion shortfall in 2011-12 and a $5.1 billion projected shortfall in 2012-13. The Governor’s proposal assumes that voters approve a measure that would be placed on the November 2012 ballot that would raise $6.9 billion in 2011-12 and 2012-13. His proposed spending plan also includes $5.4 billion of additional spending cuts that would be triggered on if voters fail to approve the proposed tax measure.

The Governor’s proposals include deep cuts to health and human services programs, as well as to student aid and child care. Health and human services and child care programs would be targeted for $2.5 billion of the $4.2 billion in proposed spending reductions. The Governor also proposes $301.7 million of cuts to the Cal Grant Program, which provides financial aid to lower-income students pursuing post-secondary education. The Governor’s Proposed Budget also includes a number of sweeping reorganizations of state departments and agencies aimed at increasing efficiency of state services, major policy changes in health and human services programs, and significant changes to the formulas used to allocate funds among school districts.

Read the California Budget Project Report. http://www.cbp.org/documents/110106_Gov_Budget_Release.pdf