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GOVERNOR SIGNS 2009-10 BUDGET - NO CUTS TO LIBRARY PROGRAMS
At 2 p.m. this afternoon, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the long-awaited 2009-2010 Budget bill (SB 1 - Third Extraordinary Session), a tax increase measure, and corresponding Budget "trailer bills," in a room located within the Governor's offices. The press, we understand, was not invited to the signing, which is rather unusual. The signing of the "Budget Act Package" was supposed to commence at 11:30 a.m. and then was ultimately pushed back to 2 p.m. today.
You may recall that the Senate worked to obtain the 27th necessary vote for passage of the Budget bill by negotiating with Senate Republican Abel Maldonado. One of the conditions for Senator Maldonado's vote was the request that an additional $600 million in cuts be made to the Budget. Today, when the Governor signed the Budget bill, he used his so-called "blue pencil" authority, and actually made $957 million in reductions to programs. CLA is pleased to note that the Governor did not make any reductions to the State Library or to its programs such as the Public Library Foundation, Transaction Based Reimbursement, or the adult literacy program.
The Governor made reductions in most of the budgets of the Executive officers, such as the Treasurer, Controller, Board of Equalization, Insurance Commissioner, and Lieutenant Governor. You may recall that recently the Executive Officers rejected the Governor's Executive Order calling for all state employees to take a two day per month furlough, which resulted in approximately a 10 percent pay reduction for employees. Interestingly, it appears that the reductions made to the Constitutional Officers' budgets, more or less, correspond to the Governor's earlier Executive Order. In fact, in his blue pencil message, regarding the Controller's Budget, the Governor stated, "I am reducing this appropriation by 10 percent of the State Controller's personal services budget, which reflects the state employee compensation reductions for furloughs, overtime reform, and elimination of two state holidays. I am reducing these funds to ensure equity among all executive branch agencies relative to employee compensation levels." The largest of the cuts, however, fell on the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which was reduced by $400 million.
Submitted by Michael Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA lobbyists
Posted on February 20, 2009 3:28 PM | Permalink