FW: Budget Update--September 18, 2008
R Milburn
Hello Again Region V Members,
Attached is a breakdown of the budget that the Governor has proposed to veto and the Legislators have vowed to override if vetoed as it pertains to California Community Colleges…
Reid E. Milburn
State
Senator, Region V,
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
Cell: 209) 409 - 4209
Reid.M...@gmail.com
www.StudentSenateCCC.org
www.GoColumbia.edu
http://groups.google.com/group/RegionVSSCCC
From: Chief Student Services Officers on behalf
of Michalowski, Linda
Sent: Thu 9/18/2008 6:02 PM
To: csso-all
Subject: FW: budget update--September 18, 2008
Latest news and possibly an end in sight.
Linda
Linda Michalowski
Vice Chancellor, Student Services and Special Programs
Phone: (916) 327-5361
Cell: (916) 804-9392
Fax: (916) 327-8232
Email: lmic...@cccco.edu
From: Skinner, Erik
[mailto:eski...@CCCCO.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:57 PM
To: SO2...@LISTSERV.CCCNEXT.NET
Subject: budget update--September 18, 2008
Dear Colleagues:
After three days of political drama around a potential veto of the state budget, state leaders now appear to have reached agreement on a spending plan. Yesterday and today, legislative leaders met among themselves and with the governor to resolve concerns expressed by the governor at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
The agreement is reported to include the following changes from the version adopted by the Legislature earlier in the week:
· Further limitations on when “rainy day” funds may be accessed. This was one of three demands made by the governor to legislative leaders prior to passage of the budget earlier this week. The other two demands were already incorporated in the previous version of the budget.
· Elimination of a proposal that would have “accelerated” tax receipts by increasing personal income tax withholding by 10 percent and then returning the over-collections to tax filers later in the year. The earlier version of the budget relied on this gimmick to generate $1.6 billion.
· The new agreement is said to make up for these revenues by increasing penalties on corporations that underpay taxes.
· Reduction of the state's reserve fund from $1.2 billion to $800 million.
· Cancellation of a proposed tax amnesty program.
For the California Community Colleges no changes are reported. Budget highlights include:
· $38.9 million to provide a 0.68 percent COLA on general purpose apportionments (no COLA is provided for categorical program funds). K-12 schools also received this same level of COLA.
· Enrollment growth is funded at 2 percent
· Categorical programs are flat-lined at 2007-08 levels
· Student fees remain level at $20 per unit
· $75 million is provided to partially backfill a property tax shortfall for the 2007-08 fiscal year. The total property tax shortfall for 2007-08 was $92 million.
· A new deferral of apportionment payments was instituted in order to address cash flow concerns at the state level. Specifically, $250 million in general purpose apportionments that normally would be paid in January, February, and March will now be paid in April, May, and June.
· A $200,000 cut to the Chancellor’s Office budget. Earlier versions of the budget had proposed a $1 million cut.
· The Competitive Cal Grant program is sustained rather than eliminated as earlier proposed. This program, operated by the California Student Aid Commission, provides support to students in all segments of California public higher education.
All four legislative leaders have indicated that they believe a deal is in place. A spokesperson for the governor has indicated that the governor “does not disagree with the proposal” though he withheld additional comment. A Big 5 meeting will reportedly take place tomorrow morning to finalize the agreement. The Senate is set to vote on the changes to the budget on Friday at 4:00 p.m. with the Assembly set to vote at 5:00 p.m. Friday.
More updates tomorrow.
Regards,
Erik Skinner
Vice Chancellor for Fiscal Policy
Chancellor's Office
California Community Colleges
1102 Q Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-6511
phone: 916-323-7007
fax: 916-322-4783
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