Budget shortfall results in cuts

www.acsa.org

May 20, 2024

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed cuts to education programs in a $288 billion budget plan that reflects the changing landscape of decreased revenues in the state.

Newsom initially released a revised budget proposal on May 10 that was light on details about how the state’s $27.6 billion shortfall would impact education.

Additional details were released on May 14 that elaborated on several proposed education-related cuts in the governor’s revised 2024-25 budget.

“We’re definitely not done with this,” said Edgar Zazueta during a May 15 edition of the ACSA Legislative Lunch Break. “There’s a number of variables. There’s going to be some interesting political pieces.”

ACSA Legislative Advocate Megan Baier said the budget process has been atypical this year as there was no overarching vision from the governor that could be matched with the technical information provided.

“It’s been a little bit like a scavenger hunt for us to try to piece together all these different items,” Baier said on the Legislative Lunch Break on May 15.

Due to an overall decrease in state revenues, the Prop. 98 minimum guarantee has been lowered an additional $3.7 billion over the three-year budget window than what was estimated in January. The budget proposal includes a total of $109.1 billion for all TK-12 programs. Per-pupil spending totals $23,278.

In order to fund Prop. 98, the governor is proposing fully draining the $8.4 billion “rainy day” reserve. The governor also proposes to fully fund the 1.07 percent statutory cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The $2.3 billion of the LCFF is funded with one-time dollars.

In terms of cut programs, Baier said this was a rough budget for preschool as well as for students with disabilities, as the governor is proposing cutting $250 million from the Inclusive Early Education Expansion Program and eliminating a requirement for State Preschool programs to reserve 7.5 percent and 10 percent of slots for students with disabilities.

Newsom and legislators now have until June 15 to negotiate a final budget.

FYI

Budget Analysis

Read ACSA's full analysis of the May Revision on the Resource Hub.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom gave a press conference May 10 that was light on details about how his proposed budget cuts would impact education.