Education spending, the Rainy Day Fund and a new tax credit for California’s poor are core components of Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised budget unveiled on Thursday.
With California’s economy on the rebound, $6.7 billion more in General Fund revenue is expected to come into state coffers than the initial projection in January. Under Brown’s proposal K-12 would get $5.5 billion more in General Fund revenue as prescribed by Prop 98, another $633 million would be saved in the Rainy Day Fund according to requirements of Prop 2, and another $633 million be used to pay down debts and liabilities.
Brown is also proposing the state’s first Earned Income Tax Credit for the lowest-income Californians, a population encompassing an estimated 2 million people. The average household benefit would be $460.
With the added revenue, the Brown administration said K-12 funding will increase by more than $3,000 per student in 2015-16 compared to five years ago. Brown also said the state will use temporary funding to help the University of California pay down its pension liability, in exchange for a two-year freeze on tuition. The UC system will also make it easier for community college students to transfer there.
The revised state budget is $115 billion, according to the Department of Finance.
