Our View: Brown gets what he wants in budget deal

Gov. Jerry Brown got his way and Democratic leaders quickly relented, passing a $167.6 billion spending plan that will vastly expand aid to children while increasing rainy-day savings.

There’s more money to go around in the fiscal year that starts July 1 because of California’s improving economy and top-heavy state income tax system. California’s public schools and community colleges will get nearly $70 billion – $14 billion more than last year. That is due to Proposition 98, the complicated 1988 initiative that ensures schools get the bulk of budget windfalls.

Brown agreed to the Democrats’ request for $265 million for preschool and child care for the children of poor parents, providing full- and part-time slots for 13,000 additional kids. We like that.

The governor also appropriated $40 million to provide health care for the children of undocumented immigrants. Some people will steam over this, but disease does not check immigration status. The kids are here, and they share classrooms and playgrounds with the children of citizens and legal residents. This is a good investment that benefits all California children. Better they receive checkups and get vaccinated against communicable and debilitating diseases than end up making far more costly emergency rooms visits.

Because the Legislature approves the budget by a majority vote, Democrats control the process. That’s unfortunate if only because the Republicans appear to be those most concerned with fixing our state’s most pressing problem – our inability to cope with drought.

“There’s still much work to be done to get the majority party to stand with Californians on their top budget priority – water,” said Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, leader of the Assembly’s Republican caucus. She mentioned storage, desalination and recycling projects in a press release. Of those, only recycling has gained any traction or appear to be moving forward. As a state, we must move faster to find more ways to find, save and recycle more water – and our budget must reflect that priority.

That said, we like some of the other priorities addressed in this budget. The state is starting an earned income tax credit, a payment to the working poor that mimics a federal tax break. Median payments will be modest, $150 or $200 per family. Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, had pushed hard for the credit. It will go direclty to working people – and that will help many families in our area.

The budget can also be a time for payback. As part of the final accord, the California State University system got a bump of $97 million in ongoing funding. UC got a one-time payment of $96 million to pay down pension liability. In a news conference, Brown noted the CSUs did somewhat better than UC without having to point out that UC President Janet Napolitano was public in her demands for more money while CSU Chancellor Timothy White was more low key.

The budget includes its share of pork – though the definition of that is in the eye of the recipient – along with a hefty emergency fund and a $1.9 billion debt payment. There’s also much left to do.

There’s still over $2 billion-plus in cap-and-trade money to haggle over this summer. And Brown called special sessions to deal with Medi-Cal and highway funding. But when the bulk of the budget becomes law on July 1, the biggest beneficiary will be the next generation, as it should be.

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Our View: Brown gets what he wants in budget deal."