Capitol Alert: What Legislators Will Be Voting On

Sacramento Bee
November 25, 2008

By Shane Goldmacher

State lawmakers will take up a Democratic proposal this afternoon to help slice away part of California's nearly $28 billion deficit over the next 19 months.

The plan has no obvious support, as Jim Sanders reports in his breakdown of the proposal.

"At this point, it's not evident that we have the votes," said Assembly Budget Chair John Laird.

But Democrats plan to take up the package -- a balance of $8.1 billion in cuts and $8.1 billion in revenues -- anyway.

"Win or lose, this will play a very important part in however we resolve the budget because it will demonstrate to people the parameters of what we have to do," Laird said.

Win or lose, today's package is a guideline for cuts Democrats have conceded they will be willing to make to balance the state's chronically imbalanced books.

Even after all the cutting and taxing detailed below, lawmakers would still face a $10 billion shortfall through the end of the 2009-10 fiscal year.


Revenues

Vehicle license fee: $1.4 billion in current year, $4.3 billion in 2009-10

State lawmakers will take up hiking the Vehicle License Fee - better known as the car tax - from .66 percent to 2 percent of a car's value. That would reverse one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first acts as governor when he repealed a previous tripling of the car tax.

Freeze tax schedules: $1.4 billion in current year, $1 billion in 2009-10

In each year, tax tables are "indexed," meaning the range in which a person is taxed at a particular tax rate is supposed to rise with inflation. For 2008, the tax tables would be frozen at the 2007. What would that mean? If your income remained the same, your taxes would remain the same, instead of seeing a small tax cut. If your income rose at the pace of inflation, your tax bill would rise as well, instead of remaining flat.

Cuts

K-12 Education: roughly $4 billion, including the current year and 2009-10

The state's biggest expenditure would take the biggest hit in the budget outlined by Assembly Democrats.

Community colleges: $200 million over two years

University of California and California State University: $264 million over two years

Personnel: $657 million over two years

How this cut would be distributed - layoffs, furloughs, salary freezes - would be determined by various agencies and bargaining units. Cuts of $240 million in the current year and $417 million in 2009-10.

SSI/SSP grants: $600 million over two years.

Would take back scheduled federal increases for cost-of-living for low-income aged, blind and disabled scheduled for 2009.

CalWORKS: $100 million from cost of living suspension.

Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would be suspended for the state's welfare program.

Regional centers: $112 million over two years from cuts to regional centers.There would also be a 3 percent cut to regional centers across the state, saving $40 million in the current year and $72 million in 2009-10.

Transit $312 million over two years.

Cuts of $156 million in each of the next two years.

Judiciary: $35 million in cuts

Local public safety programs $250 million in the current year and $500 million in 2009-10

The cuts come by eliminating funding for local law enforcement programs, though some of the funding (roughly $500 million over the two years) would be restored through a new $12 fee on car registration.

Williamson Act $35 million cut

Would eliminate state funds that currently go to counties for this program to preserve agricultural lands.