May Revision Focuses Legislators, Counties on Budget Issues
By Steve Keil, Interim Executive Director
skeil@counties.org
Released this week, the Governor’s May Revision of the Budget outlines proposals for holding the line on state spending and pre-paying the state’s debt. The May Revision outlines a number of new, often controversial proposals, including the proposed sale or lease of state-owned assets and an increased diversion of revenue from public transit to other General Fund-supported expenditures.
CSAC offers a mixed review of the May Revision. While we appreciate support of funding for important public safety programs and infrastructure, we are greatly concerned about the CalWORKs budget proposals, funding for county mental health, the diversion of transit funds, and the proposed elimination of $39.1 million in Williamson Act subventions.
The Governor’s May Revision, along with supporting information, is available here. Budget subcommittees are scheduled to meet throughout next week to wrap up open items and finalize the budget plans to be sent to conference.
In addition, the State Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has reviewed the Governor’s revised budget plan and indicates significant concern about the optimistic assumptions of the Administration. The LAO estimates that the May Revision overstates its reserve by about $1.7 billion and questions even the reality of the remaining reserve levels, given the unlikely approval of many of the Administration’s savings plans. Learn more about the LAO perspective here.
Again, the May Revision marks the beginning of intense budget negotiations between the Administration and Legislature. As usual, CSAC will work to inform counties of budget activities throughout the summer. Check out our summary of the May Revision here.
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION
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