blog post The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Test the State’s Budget Reserves By Radhika Mehlotra, Jennifer Paluch Apr 20, 2020 State reserve policies enacted since the Great Recession have boosted the capacity of California’s budget to weather a downturn, but a major recession due to COVID-19 would pose significant fiscal challenges.
blog post Good Budget News for Higher Education By Kevin Cook Jul 19, 2018 Governor Brown's final budget includes just over a billion dollars in new funding for California's higher education systems.
blog post Newsom’s Budget Advances Long-Overdue Education Data System By Jacob Jackson Jan 29, 2021 The governor’s proposed state budget includes $18.8 million in funds to move forward with a “cradle to career” data system that would provide valuable information for educators, policymakers, students, and parents.
blog post Governor’s Budget Targets Safe Drinking Water, Wildfires, Healthy Soils By Gokce Sencan, Henry McCann Jan 23, 2019 Governor Newsom’s first proposed state budget addresses several critical water and natural resource management challenges.
blog post K–12 Education and the New State Budget By Radhika Mehlotra Jul 15, 2019 Spending on K-12 education in California reaches a new high, though some key long-term funding issues remain.
blog post California’s Environment Needs a Water Budget By Jeffrey Mount, Brian Gray Dec 14, 2015 Giving the environment its own water budget would help protect species and ecosystems, and foster cooperation over water allocation during droughts.
blog post Enrollment Changes May Create Winners and Losers in K–12 Budget Deal By Julien Lafortune, Radhika Mehlotra Jul 14, 2020 Because the new state budget funds school districts based on enrollment from the prior year, growing districts could receive less funding per student this year.
blog post Governor’s Budget Banks on Voters Passing Water Bond By Caitrin Chappelle, Henry McCann Feb 7, 2018 To pay for most of the water initiatives in his proposed budget, the governor is banking on voters approving a $4 billion parks and water bond.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on the California State Budget By Mark Baldassare Jan 27, 2005 Some findings of the current survey A vast majority of California’s likely voters (76%) view the state’s multibillion dollar fiscal gap between revenues and spending as a big problem. Californians are fed up with the state’s fiscal fiasco, and they don’t trust the governor or legislature to resolve the problem: An overwhelming majority (68%) believe that voters should make decisions about the budget process at the ballot box, rather than abdicate that responsibility to the governor and legislature. A majority of residents (69%) support raising the tax rate on the state’s top income bracket. Most residents (73%) express concern about the effects of budget cuts in the governor’s plan. Few residents (29%) believe that the Social Security program is in crisis, although 42% do agree that the program has major problems. 46% of the state’s residents think that the Bush administration’s proposal to allow people to invest their Social Security contributions in the stock market is a bad idea. This survey is the fourth in a series of special PPIC Statewide Surveys on the California State Budget and Fiscal System, begun in June 2003 and conducted in collaboration with The James Irvine Foundation. The intent of this series is to raise public awareness, inform decisionmakers, and stimulate public discussion about the current state budget and the underlying state and local finance system.
Statewide Survey PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on the California State Budget By Mark Baldassare May 26, 2005 Some findings of the current survey A vast majority of Californians (71%) view the state’s multibillion dollar fiscal gap between revenues and spending as a big problem. Only 7% of the state’s residents think the governor and legislature have made a lot of progress in solving the state’s budget problems. Most Californians (72%) express concern about the effects of budget cuts in the governor’s fiscal plans. 72 percent of Californians believe voters should make decisions about the budget and governmental reforms rather than abdicate that responsibility to the governor and legislature. Californians continue to express profound distrust of their state government: Only 29 % say they trust the government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. Most Californians say that state government is run by a few big interests—a view held by majorities of Democrats (72), Republicans (67%), and independents (64%). More residents say the state is headed in the wrong direction than the right direction (57% to 35%) and say they expect bad economic times rather than good times in the next 12 months (49% to 39%). This survey is the fifth in a series of special PPIC Statewide Surveys on the California State Budget and Fiscal System, begun in June 2003 and conducted in collaboration with The James Irvine Foundation. The intent of this series is to raise public awareness, inform decisionmakers, and stimulate public discussion about the current state budget and the underlying state and local finance system.
