Legislature Approves Majority-Vote Budget; Brown Expected to Sign

The Legislature approved a 2011-’12 state budget by majority vote late June 28, two days before the end of the fiscal year.  

The majority-vote budget package, crafted by Democratic leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown and passed without Republican support, relies on spending cuts, a projected $4 billion rise in tax revenue and fee increases to close a $9.6 billion deficit.

It also includes some $2.5 billion in mid-year “trigger” cuts that would be made if revenues fall short of the projections. The package outlines three tiers of trigger cuts based on how much of the $4 billion in projected revenues materializes.

The package includes $11.5 million in fees for water quality and water rights programs through the State Water Resources Control Board. ACWA and a coalition had opposed the fees since January. General fund support for those programs is discontinued under the approved budget.

The budget includes Brown’s proposed local government “realignment” plan, with a $1.7 billion fund shift from redevelopment agencies to counties and a 1.06 percentage point sales tax “swap” that redirects money to local governments instead of the state.

The Legislature rejected the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s (LAO) proposal to shift water and wastewater enterprise special district property tax revenue to counties to fund parole realignment. The LAO had floated the concept in previous budget negotiations, and ACWA vigorously opposed it.

Today, the governor signed a number of budget trailer bills passed earlier this month, but has not acted on the budget bills passed yesterday. The governor is expected to sign the budget by the July 1 deadline.

In a statement following the Legislature’s vote, the governor said the budget reflects difficult choices and noted that more work is needed to address the state’s ongoing fiscal issues.

“Democrats in the California State Legislature made tough choices and delivered an honest, balanced and on-time budget that contains painful cuts and brings government closer to the people through an historic realignment,” Brown said. “Putting our state on a sound and sustainable fiscal footing still requires much work, but we have now taken a huge step forward.”