LAO projects funding bump in 2020
December 9, 2019
With the new year on the horizon, the ACSA Governmental Relations Team is looking ahead to the governor’s initial budget, ballot measures and other policy topics that could impact educators in 2020. The Legislative Analyst’s Office released its fiscal outlook on Nov. 20 ahead of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Jan. 10 deadline to submit his proposed budget. Despite fears of a significant economic slowdown, the LAO gave some positive news on the school spending front. The Legislature’s fiscal and policy adviser projects that Prop. 98 revenues could fund cost-of-living adjustments up to 1.79 percent, and as much as $2.1 billion in additional funds might be available after that. But the LAO advised that the Legislature be cautious with surplus spending, noting a slowdown in overall revenue growth last year. The 1.79 percent COLA for education spending is also lower than the 3 percent projection from the governor’s administration in May. The LAO offered some options for the Legislature to consider that include using some of the $2.1 billion to fund the COLA up to the 3 percent rate.  The Legislature might instead opt to fund CalPERS and CalSTRS unfunded liabilities or spending on special education. Without legislative COLA assistance — whether it comes from Prop. 98 funding or from the General Fund — the LAO said most districts would likely need to use almost all of their funding increases to cover pension costs. While work begins at the Capitol, voters have the opportunity to weigh in on upcoming statewide ballot measures in March and November. This year’s Prop. 13, the $14 billion school facilities bond, is anticipated to appear on the March presidential primary ballot. According to a November poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, the measure has 48 percent support from likely voters, with 36 percent opposing and 16 percent undecided. ACSA will be involved in the campaign to increase support for the measure. The Schools and Communities First initiative, also known as split roll, has qualified for the November ballot; however, PPIC said only 46 percent of the likely voters it surveyed favor this measure, which would raise property taxes on commercial properties to their current market value, with some of the benefits directed toward K-12 public schools. Two other policy topics that educators could follow during the new session are special education reform and action to mitigate the impact of the PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoffs on schools and other facilities. All these issues and more will be keeping the ACSA Governmental Relations team busy advocating for members in 2020.
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