State Budget Update
California faces a nearly $16 billion deficit. In his May 2012 budget proposal, Governor Brown proposed the following to close this gap:
K-14 Education:
The Governor is proposing to dismantle the way categorical funds are used in education. Right now, categorical funds can only be used for specific programs, including many of the programs where Local 99 members works like transportation, nutrition, after school programs, and child development. If these dedicated categorical funds are dismantled, many of our jobs and services are in danger.
The Governor is also proposing a revenue initiative (a “Millionaire Tax” and a ¼¢ sales tax) that would prevent the worst of the cuts to K-14 education. It is expected to raise up to $9 billion in 2012-13 for education and public safety. If voters don’t pass the initiative, his budget proposal includes a $4.8 billion cut to school funding. This would be the equivalent of cutting three weeks of school. Transitional kindergarten would be eliminated in the 2012-13 school year, displacing 125,000 students over three years. The Governor’s budget completely eliminates the school transportation program and funding. The Los Angeles Unified School District says that if voters reject both the Governor’s revenue initiative and LAUSD’s parcel tax, they will face additional district budget cuts.
Early Care & Education:
The Governor’s revised budget proposal still cuts $452.5 million from California’s child care program. But this time, he plans to cut the reimbursement rates for child care providers. Providers would face average reductions of at least 30% compared to current rates. License-exempt providers would be reimbursed at 71% of the new maximum rate for licensed providers. This proposal is expected to reduce available child care spaces by far more than the 30,000 the Administration claims – possibly even more than the Governor’s January proposal to cut 62,000 children. The Governor’s revised proposal would also still “realign” the guaranteed funding for child care – in other words, shift child care services from state oversight to counties, without any guarantee that money will be spent on child care programs. This would force many providers out of business. It would permanently reduce many parents’ access to quality child care.
We Can Fix This Mess!
It’s clear that what education and early learning need is new revenue, not more cuts. And this year we have two clear solutions:
1. Governor Brown has proposed a revenue initiative to increase taxes for the rich and place a temporary ¼ cent sales tax increase. This will raise $9 billion for education, safety and healthcare. In just four weeks, SEIU Local 99 members collected more than 7000 signatures to help this initiative qualify for the November 2012 ballot. Statewide, SEIU collected nearly 100,000 signatures in just four weeks. Now, let’s work to make sure this initiative passes in November!
Get involved! Help protect jobs and services by working to pass the Governor’s ballot initiative. For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Caroline Mello at 213-387-8393 ext. 177 or cmello@seiu99.org .
