State Budget Briefs

Overview

State Budget Briefs

The CFT is an active participant in the state budget process because public school and community college districts receive two-thirds of their funding from the state, and decisions made by state legislators set the stage for those made by district governing boards.

Our CFT Research Department analyzes the state budget and the impact it will have on education, from early childhood to university. The Research Briefs span the timeline of budget process, from the governor’s January proposals to the adopted and signed budget.

Article State Budget

CFT analyzes governor’s proposed education budget for 2021-22
Research Brief

Governor Newsom introduced his proposed $227 billion budget for 2021-22 on January 8. The proposed budget is starkly different from what lawmakers anticipated when they finalized the 2020-21 budget, largely because of much larger than expected tax receipts.

The General Fund budget is $164.5 billion, which is a 5.5% increase over 2020-21. The governor’s proposal devotes $14 billion to “early actions” that would provide various forms of relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic and includes $34 billion of “resiliency” proposals that rebuild the state’s reserves. The revenue projections result in much higher Proposition 98 funding than was expected. 

Article State Budget
Legislative Action

Governor’s budget proposes increases for education, financial incentive to return to in-person classes
Legislative Update

Gov. Newsom released the annual January budget proposal for the 2021-22 budget year, totaling $227.2 billion on Friday, January 8. The budget is very different from what lawmakers anticipated six months ago, when the 2020-21 budget was finalized, thanks to much larger than expected tax receipts.  The proposal includes $34 billion allocated to reserves (including the Public School System Stabilization reserve) and as discretionary surplus funding.

Article State Budget
Education Funding

Legislative Analyst forecasts state revenue windfall
Preliminary state budget outlook for 2021-22

Each November, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) is tasked with providing the state Legislature with forecasting of the state’s revenue and budget constraints. Those numbers have just been released to provide a starting point for what to expect in budget negotiations for the California 2021-22 state budget.