Brown’s budget calls for record $113 bil. in spending
By Josh Richman and Jessica Calefati, San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown rolled out a $113 billion budget Friday morning that boosts K-12 schools but doesn’t add more money for the University of California, which has threatened tuition hikes.
Although the proposed budget shows income and corporate taxes fueling the state’s second consecutive surplus after years of red ink, Brown said his plan signifies “self-discipline and real prudence” — even as advocacy groups say it’s high time to shore up the universities and mend the social safety net shredded by bone-deep cuts in past years.
“It’s a question of priorities,” Brown said. “There’s only so much money here.”
Still, the plan represents a 5 percent increase in general-fund spending over this current year. It would put another $1.2 billion into the state’s “rainy day” budget reserve fund, bringing its balance to about $2.8 billion, and would pay down about $1.2 billion in debt.
K-12 schools and community colleges get $65.7 billion in fiscal year 2015-16 under Brown’s plan — a 39 percent increase over four years ago — with much of the growth going to the Local Control Funding Formula that Brown and lawmakers enacted in 2013. Past K-12 budget deferrals will be all paid off.