By Len Feldman
CTA and a growing coalition of community partners are battling to boost state revenues and block cuts that would devastate public education and hurt students.
As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers wrangle over the state budget, CTA and its coalition partners are hard at work in the state Capitol to secure additional revenues to stave off the governor’s proposed education cuts. While the lawmakers are holding hearings on provisions of the governor’s proposed budget, the real action on the state spending plan will likely not occur until after mid-May. On May 14, the governor is scheduled to release his updated budget proposal, the “May Revision.” Once that document with its updated estimates of revenues and expenditures is released, lawmakers will seek to finalize their version of a spending proposal.
(The state constitution requires lawmakers to send a budget to the governor by June 15, and the governor is required by the constitution to sign the spending plan into law by June 30. Those dates have often been missed in recent years.)
Oil industry tax
In March, CTA fought hard for the passage of AB 3x 9 by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). Had it passed, the bill would have raised billions of dollars in new state revenues and helped to prevent thousands of teacher layoffs statewide.
AB 3x 9 would have imposed taxes on the oil industry and raised an estimated $1.2 billion annually for schools. Unfortunately, the measure failed to secure the two-thirds majority needed. More than 43 Assembly Democrats co-authored and voted for AB 3x 9, but virtually all Assembly Republicans voted against it. Had the bill gone forward, California would have joined 21 other oil-producing states that gain a fair share of oil company earnings.
AB 3x 9’s defeat spotlights the challenges facing the coalitions as they seek to close tax loopholes and bridge the state’s budget gap without slashing school funding.
The efforts to secure new funding are gaining greater urgency as it appears state revenues are again dropping — some predict the deficit to increase by another $4 billion to $7 billion.
CTA President David A. Sanchez says, “We and our coalition partners are committed to fighting for the additional revenues California needs to head off devastating cuts to public education and other public services.”
CTA and Senate and Assembly Democrats have been pushing for funding increases and tax loophole closures, but the Assembly Republican Caucus unveiled a different response April 3. The caucus is touting a package of bills to help schools meet their financial needs in the face of the governor’s proposed $4.8 billion in cuts — solely by “stretching” current dollars and moving money around among programs. CTA representatives have denounced these and other inadequate attempts to bridge the funding shortfall.
CalSTRS pension protection guarantee
CTA is working to boost the purchasing power guarantee that ensures that CalSTRS retirees’ payments will always retain at least 82.5 percent of their original value. A special account called the Supplemental Benefits Maintenance Account (SBMA) makes quarterly payments to retirees if their purchasing power dips below 80 percent of its original value. However, these payments are only guaranteed to the extent that there is money in the SBMA account.
The governor is proposing to lower the state’s contribution to the SBMA account but guarantee the benefit forever at 80 percent. Although CTA and its partners support the guarantee benefit, they believe the purchasing power amount should be higher. The groups are on record supporting the CalSTRS counterproposal, which also lowers the state’s contribution rate and guarantees the benefit but raises the purchasing power to 82.5 percent. CTA and its partners are urging the Legislature to oppose the governor’s proposal.
Support for Program Improvement districts
CTA representatives are working to refashion a measure aimed at providing funding and structure for assisting districts identified or in danger of being identified in Program Improvement under NCLB. CTA wants to ensure that SB 606, by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland), will spell out appropriate roles for a District Assistance and Intervention Team or state trustee assigned to local education agencies. Ultimately, it is hoped that the program will actually support school districts as they work to improve student performance.
