It’s time to make deals on CA budget

From CalMatters K-12 education reporter Carolyn Jones:

As the Legislature hammers out its state budget this week, education advocates are waiting to learn the fate of Proposition 98, the decades-old funding mechanism for California’s public K-12 schools and community colleges. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed lowering the minimum amount of money guaranteed to schools by Prop. 98 and making up the difference by borrowing from the general fund. The California Teachers Association, California School Boards Association and other education advocates say the maneuver will protect funding this year, but could lower it dramatically in future years. 

Last week, Newsom and the teachers union struck a compromise that shrinks the Prop. 98 cut from $8.8 billion to $5.5 billion, but negotiations with the Legislature are ongoing. 

Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association: “There are several unappealing options, all with disadvantages.”

Prop. 98 is a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1988. It establishes minimum funding for California schools, based on a complicated set of formulas roughly equalling 40% of the state’s general fund. Prop. 98 money pays for schools’ day-to-day operational expenses, including staff salaries.

Newsom has said he wants to protect schools — and some of his signature programs, such as community schools — from budget cuts. In the past few years, California has gradually boosted its per-pupil spending, going from the bottom tier nationwide to above the national average. It’s an accomplishment he’s likely to tout in any future campaigns. 

Lowering the Prop. 98 minimum is not likely to affect students this year, but could lead to teacher layoffs and program cuts in future years if state revenues fall flat and enrollment continues to decline. Any budget cuts could compound schools’ struggles to help students catch up academically after the pandemic.

Rob Manwaring, senior policy and fiscal advisor for the nonprofit advocacy group Children Now: “Our schools need more resources, period. While the governor’s most recent proposal may be the best alternative right now, it seems counterproductive to bring this much uncertainty to local school budgets.”

More on the budget: Other key parts are also still undecided as the Legislature faces a midnight Saturday deadline to pass at least a placeholder spending plan while negotiations with Newsom continue. A final deal isn’t expected until later this month.

And various interest groups are trying to make their case for state money. On Tuesday, Service Employees International Union members from across California rallied at the state Capitol to call on lawmakers to reject cuts to safety net programs.

Tuesday night, the 40,000-member Child Care Providers United held a candlelight vigil at the Capitol to call for higher pay and more child care spaces. Last year’s budget deal gave raises to child care workers, but the governor’s current proposal would pause funding toward a goal of 200,000 subsidized child care slots by 2026, with 11,000 at stake in the negotiations.

Democrats pushed 14 retail theft bills through committees Tuesday and eventually plan to add amendments to 11 that Republicans describe as cynical and irresponsible “poison pills.” The provisions would kill these bills if they are signed into law — and if voters approve a ballot measure to change Prop. 47 that the Secretary of State announced Tuesday has officially qualified for the Nov. 5 election.

Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, a Los Angeles Democrat and chairperson of the select committee on retail theft, said the bills are “very carefully crafted,” while the Prop. 47 repeal measure is a “crude response” that will lead to more people in prison for minor crimes. 

Zbur, in a call with reporters: “Our package was never intended to be stacked on top of a Prop. 47 reform. … This is not a poison pill, this is good governance.”

During the Senate Public Safety Committee hearing, Sen. Kelly Seyarto of Murrieta (the only Republican in the five-member committee) said that though the retail theft bills were “great solutions,” he would abstain from voting out of concern that the bills could ultimately be negated.

Seyarto: “Given the last-minute finangling, that’s why I’m not voting today because I want to investigate it further and have the time to do it.”

Prop. 47 was approved by voters a decade ago, setting a $950 threshold for shoplifting to be a felony. Republican lawmakers (and some Democrats), as well as law enforcement and business groups, blame the measure for the state’s rising crime rates. The campaign to reform Prop. 47 in November would increase penalties for retail theft and drug dealing, particularly fentanyl. 

The coalition of law enforcement, business and other groups behind the ballot measure is planning a press conference today to call out Democratic legislators. But police and business groups are typically less successful in lobbying lawmakers. 

In a data analysis looking into organizations that backed or opposed at least 25 bills since 2023, CalMatters Digital Democracy reporter Ryan Sabalow found that labor unions and social justice advocates do far better in passing legislation that supports their agenda. The California Labor Federation, for instance, had a 67% success rate on bills it took a position on this session.

In comparison, the California Sheriffs Association’s success rate was 42% and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an anti-tax group, had the lowest success rate, at only 29%.

One former Democratic lawmaker said the recent wins by labor and progressive groups (as well as the lack of success of others) could be due to the influx of Democratic legislators who were elected in 2023 and are more likely to support the party’s traditional allies.

Read more about how other lobbying groups fared in Ryan’s story.

More on criminal justice: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld three California laws restricting gun shows, writes CalMatters justice reporter Nigel Duara. One was a 2022 law prohibiting firearms sales on all state property that was blocked last year by a federal judge. “Sales of illegal firearms and ammunition, and sales of firearms and ammunition to prohibited persons, have happened on state property and these laws will further help to prevent that going forward,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. Learn more about the rulings in Nigel’s story.

A workplace safety board bucked the Newsom administration in March, criticizing how it handled long-delayed indoor heat rules. Now, the administration is pushing back, writes CalMatters Capitol reporter Jeanne Kuang.

Four months ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board was expected to approve the rules for employers to protect workers from extreme indoor heat. The night before the meeting, the Newsom administration withdrew its support, citing cost concerns. 

Two board members who were among the most outspoken critics of the administration’s move have been reshuffled. Chairperson Dave Thomas has been demoted (replaced by antitrust attorney Joseph Alioto). Laura Stock has been removed altogether, which she said she learned in a phone call last Friday. 

Stock, to CalMatters: “It was very shocking. There was no indication that anything like this was planned. I was simply told the governor decided to move in a different direction.”

Stock has served on the board since 2012 and is a researcher and director of the Labor and Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley. In March, she called the administration’s action “completely outrageous.”

Read more about the safety board shakeup in Jeanne’s story.

I wrote about a bill that came out of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness and that requires school districts to consider student stress in homework requirements. Now, there’s a video version of the story, produced by Robert Meeks. Watch it here.

The segment is part of SoCalMatters, which airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal and is available on YouTube.