Our View: Help for Stanislaus not in budget deal
Gov. Jerry Brown got his way and Democratic leaders quickly relented, passing a $167.6 billion spending plan that will vastly expand aid to children while increasing rainy-day savings. Unfortunately, it might not provide the tax relief Stanislaus County has been hoping to get for the last 30 years.
There’s more money to go around in the fiscal year that starts July 1 because of California’s improving economy and top-heavy state income tax system. California’s public schools and community colleges will get nearly $70 billion – $14 billion more than last year. That is due to Proposition 98, the complicated 1988 initiative that ensures schools get the bulk of budget windfalls.
Brown agreed to the Democrats’ request for $265 million for preschool and child care for the children of poor parents, providing full- and part-time slots for 13,000 additional kids.
The governor also appropriated $40 million to provide health care for the children of undocumented immigrants. Some people will steam over this, but disease does not check immigration status. The kids are here, and they share classrooms and playgrounds with the children of citizens and legal residents. This is a good investment that benefits all California children. Better they receive checkups and get vaccinated against communicable diseases than end up making far more costly emergency rooms visits.
Because the Legislature approves the budget by a majority vote, Democrats control the process. That’s unfortunate if only because the Republicans appear to be those most concerned with fixing our state’s most pressing problem – our inability to cope with drought.
“There’s still much work to be done to get the majority party to stand with Californians on their top budget priority – water,” said Kristin Olsen, Modesto’s Assemblywoman and leader of the Republican caucus. She mentioned storage, desalination and recycling projects in a press release. Of those, only recycling has gained any traction. As a state, we must move faster to have more ways to find, clean and save more water and our budget must reflect that priority.
We were alarmed that there was no mention in the budget of the provision to end the “negative bailout” that has cost Stanislaus County up to $3 million a year, or more than $70 million over the past 30 years. That began in 1978 when the state tried to ease the burden on counties struggling to fill property-tax gaps created by Proposition 13. Stanislaus was in better shape than most, and was penalized for it, becoming one of the few counties that has actually been paying money to the state each year. Gov. Brown had included a provision in his May revise to rectify the situation, but it was missing from the final budget.
Many spending priorities are reflected in trailer bills, so we haven’t given up hope for passage later this week. But it appears our hopes might have once again been dashed.
That said, we like some of the other priorities addressed in this budget. The state is starting an earned income tax credit, a payment to the working poor that mimics a federal tax break. Median payments will be modest, $150 or $200 per family. But the tax credit goes direclty to working people – and that will help many families in our area.
The budget can also be a time for payback. As part of the final accord, the California State University system got a bump of $97 million in ongoing funding. UC got a one-time payment of $96 million to pay down pension liability. In a news conference, Brown noted the CSUs did somewhat better than UC without having to point out that UC President Janet Napolitano was public in her demands for more money while CSU Chancellor Timothy White was more low key.
Brown called special sessions to deal with Medi-Cal and highway funding. But when the bulk of the budget becomes law on July 1, the biggest beneficiary will be the next generation, as it should be.
This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Our View: Help for Stanislaus not in budget deal."