At a Capitol news conference April 26, two key lawmakers pledged to fight for additional funds — as much as $4 billion — to provide the financial resources to meet the state constitutional appropriations guarantee for schools.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Sen. Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) said they were willing to back tax increases in order to raise the funds schools need.
"We have to raise taxes to pay for schools,'' Perata told reporters. "There, I said it.''
"You put any source of new revenues on the table to help schools, and I'll support it,'' pledged Simitian.
The commitment to provide more funding for schools even if it requires raising taxes came just two weeks before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was set to release his updated budget proposal, the May Revision.
Set for release around May 12, the revised numbers are expected to show that schools are due more funding under the terms of Proposition 98's minimum funding guarantee in the state constitution.
The governor has proposed eliminating public education's minimum funding guarantee. He is trying to qualify a spending cap initiative for the ballot, under which state officials would have the authority to reduce school funding several times during a tight budget year. CTA, the Education Coalition, and a host of other groups are opposing this proposal.