With sliding approval ratings at the beginning of a state
election year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for increased
funding for education and healthcare for children and for repayment
of the state’s debt in the proposed state budget released
Tuesday.
Despite pushing for a failed ballot measure which would have
controlled state spending during last November’s special
election, the governor called for increased state spending in his
$125.6 billion budget plan for the 2006-2007 fiscal year, providing
a 7 percent increase over the current fiscal year without an
increase in taxes.
Dan Mitchell, professor at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of
Management and the School of Public Affairs, said this year’s
budget comes at a good time ““ during the governor’s
re-election campaign ““ in that “it gives a lot of money
to a lot of things that are popular.”
But because the proposal runs on a deficit, the state will be
vulnerable to larger economic problems, Mitchell said.
Michael Dukakis, a former presidential candidate and professor
in the School of Public Affairs, said the proposed budget will
result in billions in additional borrowings that will have to be
paid back.
“It’s obviously a reaction to what happened to him a
few months ago,” Dukakis said.
In the special state election last November, voters rejected all
eight ballot measures ““ including four specifically backed by
Schwarzenegger ““ in an election the Secretary of State
estimated to have cost the state between $44.6 million and $80
million, a stinging rebuke for the governor.
Since then, approval ratings for the governor have dropped to an
all-time low since he defeated former Gov. Gray Davis in the state
recall election.
Mitchell said if the four measures which the governor pushed for
in the costly special election had passed, the election would have
increased Schwarzenegger’s political standing and political
clout going into the current election year.
One of those defeats was Proposition 76, a measure which would
have limited state spending increases as well as ended some minimum
funding requirements for education.
“During the special election, he supported state spending
constraints. The budget would have definitely looked different if
what he wanted had passed … but he didn’t get what he
wanted so he changed his position,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the budget proposal, which includes a $4.7 billion
boost in funding for K-12 and community colleges, increases funding
for the state’s four-year university systems to keep student
fees from increasing. Mitchell added the proposal includes $72
million to enroll more uninsured children in healthcare programs,
which reflects the governor’s understanding that he must work
with the Democrat-run Legislature and the people.
Student groups at the University of California were pleased and
thanked the governor for the proposed buyout of student fee
increases, but education groups, which have been some of the
governor’s most vocal critics, have said they will seek even
more money once the budget gets submitted to the Legislature.
The proposed budget must pass with a two-thirds vote in both
houses of the state Legislature. This process can become very
contentious, particularly in an election year, Mitchell said.
Potential Democratic candidates for governor have already
questioned the governor’s ability to fund a proposed $222.6
billion public works program and criticism of the budget proposal
from Democrats can be expected in the next few days, Mitchell
said.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said in
a statement Tuesday he would not support the proposed $199 million
cut to welfare programs in the governor’s budget.
“Over the past several years, we balanced the budget on
the backs of the disenfranchised, the poor and the disabled. We are
not going to do it this year,” Núñez said.