GOVERNOR NEWSOM UNVEILS 2022-23 STATE BUDGET

January 10, 2022

TO:                 CLA MEMBERS/ SYSTEMS/ NETWORK CONTACTS
FROM:           Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
RE:                 2022-23 State Budget

GOVERNOR NEWSOM UNVEILS 2022-23 STATE BUDGET
$5 million increase for Lunch at the Library proposed

This morning Governor Gavin Newsom held a press conference to present his 2022-23 State Budget.  The Governor noted that the state was in a “substantially better place than we predicted last January” and highlighted a “$20.6 billion ‘discretional’ surplus” that he proposes be used for various programs such as wildfire mitigation, housing and homelessness, education and higher education, green energy incentives, infrastructure, healthcare, etc.  In the Governor’s Budget document, the Governor adds, “This is not only a spending plan for the year, it is a foundation for California’s future – a fiscally responsible plan that seeks to make our state safer and more affordable, and to set our state on a better path for years to come.” 

Contained in the Governor’s Budget under the “State Library” section, is a $5 million increase for Lunch at the Library.  The new funding is not only a significant increase from the current funding level of $800,000 for the program, but it is also a proposal which recommends that these dollars be “ongoing” in nature.  For example, State Budget funding is either allocated annually as a “one-time” appropriation (meaning the funds must be spent in the current fiscal year – 2022-23) or “ongoing funds” (meaning that the dollar figure will carry forward year-to-year).  It is obviously more desirable to have a program funded with “ongoing” dollars so that program leaders and libraries have better assurances that they can rely on the funding and make plans accordingly.  The Governor’s Lunch at the Library item also includes “2 [State Library] positions to expand the number of library jurisdictions providing summer meal programs for students in low-income communities.” 

Also contained in the State Library Budget is:

• “Online Job Training and Workforce Development – an increase of $8.8 million one-time General Fund to support two additional years of free online job training and educational upskilling programs available through local public libraries.”
  
  
• “Digitization of Significant Materials – An increase of $12.8 million one-time General Fund and $1.2 million ongoing General Fund for 9 positions, equipment, and other resources to support the digitization of historically and culturally significant materials, improved cataloging of library collections, and specialized digital concierge services for state agencies.”

The legislature will begin holding Budget subcommittee and full Budget Committee hearings on the Governor’s 2022-23 State Budget in the coming weeks.  These hearings will last through the end of May and will incorporate the Governor’s May Revision of the Budget, which will be released around May 15^th.  (The May Revision will provide a more detailed account of the state’s fiscal picture after the April tax receipts are received.)  In June, the final details of the Governor’s Budget will be negotiated between the legislature and the Governor, and the legislature will need to approve the State Budget by June 15, 2022, the constitutional deadline.   We will keep CLA members updated as to the upcoming Budget subcommittee hearing dates for these State Library items.