Governor Signs Budget . . . Finally
Without fanfare on Tuesday, September 23, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the long-overdue 2008-09 State Budget. Unlike previous years, there was no signing ceremony and no elaborate staging. The Governor’s signature allows Controller John Chiang to begin paying community colleges, state vendors, and nursing homes. To see the Governor's press release regarding signing the State Budget, go to http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/print-version/press-release/10593/.
Schwarzenegger used his blue pencil to veto $510 million from the Budget. The only veto relating to community colleges was a $331,000 reduction in the State Chancellor’s Office operations budget. This was accomplished by increasing the unallocated reduction from the Legislature’s $200,000 level to $531,000. The Chancellor’s Office has experienced previous cuts to its operations budget, and this cut will further hurt its ability to address the system’s needs. But it could have been worse. No vetoes were made in the funding proposed for local assistance.
In a clear signal that structural reform that goes beyond the Budget process itself will be a priority for 2009, Schwarzenegger, after signing the Budget, is scheduled to join a broad coalition of supporters of Proposition 11, which reforms the process for drawing legislative boundaries, to express his support for the proposition.
--Terry Anderson and Deborah Harmon