DOF HOSTS BRIEFING ON GOVERNORÕS PROPOSED CUTS
May Revision 3
Revenue Limit Cuts
DOF hosted a briefing for
Education lobbyists this afternoon to provide details on the package of budget
cuts proposed earlier today - May 29th. It was clarified that
the additional $680 million cut to revenue limit funding slated for 2009-2010
is to occur only if fall revenue projections confirm that state revenues have
dropped below May Revise estimates. DOF feels the estimates by LAO are
exaggerated and thinks these cuts could be restored or partially restored in
November or December when the next state budget revisions are scheduled.
Another positive note -
because of the proposed recent cuts to CalWorks, DOF
anticipates less call on dollars for Stage 2 and Stage 3 childcare. In response to this they will be
restoring $221 million to K-12 revenue limits. So the net cuts to K-12 will be $459 million. Again all of this is subject to
change.
DOF pointed out these recent
cuts bring Prop 98 down to the minimum, but that they still have over $1
billion available under the Federal MOE limits.
PTA Funds
The GovernorÕs May 29th
package of proposals would redirect $315 million in Public Transportation
Account Funds—which are non-Prop 98 dollars used to fund Home to School
Transportation—to pay additional debt service on transit bonds. The reason they are cutting $315
million, rather than the $403 million allocated for the program, is there is
only $315 available. If demand
increases, they will cut the entire $403 million. They stated districts could use the flexibility available in
Tier 3 categoricals to fund their school transportation programs.
Flexibility
On Monday, in conjunction
with the release of the Budget Trailer Bills, the Governor is slated to release
an additional set of spending ÒflexibilityÓ options to help local educational
agencies balance their budgets. We hear CSR flexibility is off the table,
as CTA was at the negotiating table.
Details on the additional
2009-2010 Deferral
You may have caught that the
GovernorÕs May 14th version of the May Revise proposed $1.7 billion
in additional deferrals from 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 without providing details
on the timing of the deferrals. Although DOF is still finalizing the
timing of the proposed deferral, we learned that funds are likely to be shifted
from late in the 2009-10 budget year (either April or May) to early in the
2010-11 year (likely July or August.)
Federal Stimulus Checks
Expected To Go Out Today
At their afternoon briefing,
DOF also shared some good news: warrants for State Fiscal Stabilization
Funds—the most flexible source of education funding within the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—are expected to be
distributed today. So your checkÕs in the mail.
The notice and schedule of
apportionments is available at:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/sfsf08result.asp
The state must still complete
final calculations before the distribution of program-specific ARRA funds,
including one-time boosts in Title 1 and IDEA funding. Information on
preliminary entitlements is available at: