California voters soundly rejected five of six ballot measures in the state’s special election Tuesday, barring the Legislature from relocating funds as a short-term fix to the current budget crisis.
The only measure that passed ‘mdash; by an overwhelming 74 percent of voters ‘mdash; was Proposition 1F, which will freeze salaries of state lawmakers during deficit years. Because California will be $21.3 billion in the red beginning July 1, this will include 2009-10.
‘The message was loud and clear,’ Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. ‘An overwhelming majority of people told Sacramento, ‘Go and do your work yourself. Don’t come to us with your problems.”
Propositions 1A-1E, which were rejected by more than 60 percent of voters, sought to reach mandatory funding goals by redirecting roughly $5.9 billion toward the state’s general-revenue funds.
Proposition 1A would have established state spending caps and prolonged recent tax increases, while Proposition 1B attempted to cushion future cuts to education by requiring the state to pay $9.3 billion toward California K-12 schools and community colleges. Propositions 1C-1E would have borrowed money from California lottery profits, California Children and Families Commission reserves and mental-health program funds, respectively.
Because of the failure of Propositions 1A and 1B, California’s public colleges and universities will be subject to additional cuts in state support of up to 10 percent. The University of California will be hit with a $765 million slash to top off the $115 million cut to the system that was announced three months ago.
‘Such severe budget reduction, following years of chronic underfunding, would force the university to weigh a number of stark choices,’ UC President Mark G. Yudof said in a statement. ‘At this point, all options must be placed on the table for consideration at some point in the future.’
According to Yudof, these options include slicing enrollment, academic programs and student services while boosting student fees and class sizes, in addition to pay reductions or furloughs for university employees. The failure of the ballot measures will also trim state support for student aid.
Jack Pitney, a political-science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said state lawmakers will have little choice but take funds from politically sacred avenues such as education, since the public seems to want more than they’re willing to pay for.
‘For a lot of people, the budget’s been an abstraction,’ Pitney said. ‘But with the next round, there will probably be serious consequences, particularly in the schools. Democrats have taken heat for accepting spending cuts. Certain Republicans have taken heat for accepting tax increases, and the heat’s only going to get more intense this summer.’
After election results were announced Tuesday evening, Schwarzenegger flew to Washington, D.C., the next morning to request federal stimulus money for the state.
In a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Schwarzenegger was informed that California remains eligible to receive another $8 billion in stimulus money for its Medicaid program.
‘The rest of it we have to do ourselves in California,’ Schwarzenegger said. ‘We’ve made it clear that we’re not asking for a bailout. We’re not asking for any money we don’t deserve under the economic stimulus package.’
The governor began closed-door meetings with state leaders yesterday. Today, Senate and Assembly members will hold the first of many daily public sessions planned to work out budget details.
Last week, Schwarzenegger announced plans to lay off 5,000 of the state’s 235,000 workers, slash education funding by up to $5 billion, sell state properties, borrow $2 billion from local governments and reduce eligi
bility for health-care programs.
Schwarzenegger also proposed the state release and deport 19,000 illegal immigrants from prisons, as well as transfer nearly 23,000 other prisoners to county jails.
Readers can contact Kimberly Cheng at [email protected].