Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal lifts state funding for K-14 education $2.7 billion – not exactly what proponents of Proposition 30 promised during the election campaign.
I know it was months ago—Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and New Year’s Day all in between – but does anyone remember how much Proposition 30 was supposed to bring in for the schools? The Yes on Prop 30 campaign said the new tax increase would all go to education.
One of the campaign’s official ballot booklet arguments described the use of Prop 30 funds a little differently: “Prop. 30’s TOUGH FISCAL CONTROLS insure money is spent ONLY on schools and public safety.”
Yet, the Legislative Analysts Office’s official description of Proposition 30 reported that the measure “Raises about $6 billion in additional annual state revenues from 2012–13.”
So, if Prop 30 is supposed to raise $6 billion, and the schools got $2.7 billion, you would guess that leaves a lot for public safety.
Which begs the question: Why is the courts’ construction budget cut $200 million?
Perhaps, the Prop 30 campaign wasn’t straight with the voters when they said that all the new tax money would go to education and (a little) to public safety.
Did our No on Prop 30 campaign (of which I was a co-chair) mention during the election battle that all the money would not go to its dedicated purposes if the measure passed? A few hundred times.