California Educator

March 2012

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ACTION State budget Media circus at Miramonte Corporate Power Grab Bargaining updates ....................................................................................30 .............................................................31 ....................................................................32 .........................................................................33 KNOW YOUR NUMBERS — READ ABOUT THE GOVERNOR'S TAX INITIATIVE AT WWW.CTA.ORG/CAMPAIGN2012. LEGISLATURE BEGINS REVIEW CTA IS PRESSING the Legislature to approve a new state budget that will pro- vide public education with more funding. Both houses of the Legislature have begun their review of Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed 2012-13 budget. Lawmakers are working against a June 15 deadline for sending their version back to the governor for his signature. The governor's proposed spending plan provides K-12 schools with an additional $4.9 billion in desperately needed Proposition 98 fund- ing, but there's a catch. Trig- ger cuts would eliminate the increase if voters turn down his proposed temporary tax initiative in November. (See the sidebar for more infor- mation about the initiative.) Schools are already reel- CTA is OF GOVERNOR'S BUDGET INITIATIVE'S PASSAGE WOULD HEAD OFF $4.9 BILLION IN CUTS E. Vogel. "CTA is supporting the gover- nor's initiative so that we can begin to deal with the state budget deficit respon- sibly while we increase funding for our schools and colleges." To avoid additional stagger- ing from more than $20 bi llion in cuts in recent years, and the loss of the additional revenues would trigger additional cuts that would continue to keep class sizes high, boost the number of layoffs, and decimate instruc- tional programs. "Our students, our schools, and our supporting the governor's initiative so that we can begin to deal with the state budget deficit responsibly while we increase funding for our schools and colleges. Dean E. Vogel ing cuts in funding, the gover- nor's budget assumes that voters will pass his proposed initiative. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) — an advisory body to the Legisla- ture — has been recommend- ing that lawmakers work slowly toward the adoption of a budget so that they can rely on updated revenue forecasts. The LAO is looking toward April tax collec- tions that could come in higher than projections. Among var iables in the mix is how much the state will garner from pending initial public offerings (IPOs) from companies like Facebook. These releases of stock often gener- ate millions of dollars for the company's owners, obligating them to pay taxes on their stock capital gains. Few obser vers be lie ve , members have been hard hit by these reductions," says CTA President Dean 30 California Educator / March 2012 though, that such revenues will take the place of the modest income tax boost on the wealthy and the temporary sales tax that the governor's initiative would implement. By Len Feldman A close-up on the governor's initiative THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSED TAX INITIATIVE WOULD: Raise a total of $6.9 billion by: Increasing income taxes on the wealthy. • 1 percent for household earnings of $500,000 to $600,000. • 1.5 percent for earnings of $600,000 to $1 million. • 2 percent for earnings over $1 million. Increasing the sales tax by one-half cent. These taxes would be in place for five years. Fund schools within the Proposition 98 guarantee and pay down the budget deficit — including money owed to schools. (Note: The governor's initiative is the only pending measure that does both.) Provide schools with $4.9 billion in 2012-13 under the terms of Proposition 98. Similar increases in the following years would lead to a $15 billion cumulative increase in funding toward the Proposition 98 guarantee by the year 2015. That's the equivalent of $2,400 per pupil.

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