Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/15938
Two-thirds requirement blocks budget and greater school funding ACTION supporters, on the last day of the regular state legislative session, lawmakers were unable to secure the two-thirds vote needed to approve a pending California budget version that would have boosted school spending by more than $4 billion above Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May budget proposal. In a test in the Assembly, the D Democrats’ California Jobs Bud- get — AB 1609 (Blumenfield) — garnered 48 yes votes and 25 no votes. Under the state’s arcane re- quirements, budgets must receive a two-thirds supermajority — 54 espite intense efforts by CTA, its Education Coali- tion partners, and school votes in the Assembly and 27 in the state Senate — in order to be approved. The pro-education California Jobs Budget, which would have allocated about $52 billion to schools, received support from all Assembly Democratic legislators. It was opposed by all Assembly Republicans. For their own part, the Assem- bly Republicans were able to muster only 25 yes votes for the governor’s May Revision budget version — contained in SB 873 (Hollingsworth) — which would provide schools with only $48.9 bil- lion in Proposition 98 spending. “Year after year, a small band of legislators has held the state budget hostage to their ill-advised opposition to raising new reve- nues and closing tax loopholes that benefit corporations and wealthy individuals,” says CTA President David A. Sanchez. “This unconscionable situation is why we are supporting Proposition 25 — the On-Time Budget Act of 2010 — which will reduce the votes needed to pass a budget to a simple majority and penalize law- makers if they miss the constitu- tional budget deadline.” As the Educator went to press, it remained unclear whether lawmakers would be able to reach a budget agreement. While the state constitution requires the Legislature to send the gov- ernor a spending plan by June 15, the document contains no penalties for legislators’ failure to do so. The Legislature can be called back by the Assembly speaker and the Senate president pro tem to continue their work on the budget. If a new budget is not approved by Nov. 30, respon- sibility for creating and passing one would fall to the new Legis- lature and very possibly to the new governor. Bills introduced in this legisla- tive session must be voted out by Aug. 31 or they die for this year. The governor has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature on or before Sept. 1. LEN FELDMAN Education Jobs Bill will help rehire over 13,000 California educators approved the Education Jobs Bill in August, designed to provide education funding under the American Recovery and Rein- vestment Act. The action brings $1.2 billion to California to help retain and rehire about 13,000 educators. CTA members came out in D force with e-mails, letters and texts. More than 10,000 contacts were made with California’s sena- ue to the hard work of edu- cators all across the coun- try this summer, Congress tors and representatives in Con- gress. Educators, including many laid-off members, traveled to Washington, D.C., to show their support for the bill. Educators voiced to federal leaders the seriousness of the situ- ation in California, which has seen more than 32,000 layoffs over the past three years and al- ready has the largest student-to- teacher ratio in the country. Under a bill approved by the California Legislature — SB 847 by Senate President Pro Tem Dar- rell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) — the money will be sent to local school districts according to a base-revenue-limit formula. The bill stipulates that all of the money must be used specifically to rehire laid-off educators or restore salary cuts due to state budget cuts. The funds will be available in the 2010-11 school year to “retain, re- call, or rehire former employees and to hire new employees to pro- vide early childhood, elementary, or secondary educational services.” Money will go out to local school districts by mid-September. At press time, SB 847 was headed to the governor for his signature. CTA was joined in its support for the measure by organizations including United Teachers Los An- geles, the California School Em- ployees Association, the League of Women Voters of California, the Los Angeles Unified School Dis- trict, the Santa Ana Unified School District, and the Small School Dis- tricts Association. LEN FELDMAN 30 California Educator | SEPTEMBER 2010 32 2009