Budget deal would close California's deficit but makes rosy projections
The budget package is the last of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure and the tardiest in modern state history. A public hearing on the $87.5-billion general-fund proposal lasted less than an hour Wednesday, when lawmakers made available only an eight-page outline of their plan and took no public testimony. By legislators’ own calculations, the package would shave less than $9 billion from the deficit by cutting programs and suspending corporate tax breaks. Winners in the otherwise austere budget plan would be the state’s two higher-education systems, the University of California and California State University. Both would receive $200 million to compensate for cuts made last year and enough additional money to fully fund projected enrollment growth.
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by Shane Goldmacher, The Los Angeles Times.