Change	Amount
Expenditure Reductions	$7.4 billion*
Federal Funds	$5.4 billion
Additional Revenues	$2.4 billion
Fund Shifts(Other Revenues)	$2.8 billion
Alternative Funding	$0.5 billion
Baseline Workload Adjustments	$-0.3 billion
Total Solution	$18.2 billion
Final Reserve	$0.2 billion

We have a “deal”, but let’s face it, this budget isn’t going to last us the entire fiscal year. Both candidates for governor understand that, Schwarzenegger knows that, and basically everybody in the process knows that.  It’s optimistic at best, delusional at worst.  

The amount of federal funds expected, given the current climate lies at the center of that. Should we get that much money. Yes, much of it is already owed, money that we had to spend.  Other is money that the federal government, if they had any sense, would make a priority in the budget.  But one thing that is clear for the world to see, is that right now, sense isn’t really all that common.  Fear, paranoia, that there is plenty of.  Sense? Well, that seems to abandon DC around the time of elections.

That being said, what we’ve got is a budget that bides its time for a winner in the Governor’s race.  If Jerry Brown wins, there will be renewed momentum to at least stabilize the losses by working with the Legislature to find some solutions.  If Whitman wins, well, apparently she doesn’t want to run a functioning government and intends to fire anybody that crosses her path.

One thing to note, is that with the Governor’s public commitment to higher education, there were no cuts in that area, and even a smidgen of a boost in funding.  K12 can’t say the same thing, however.

In the photos, I’ve seen from the Capitol, Sen. Steinberg looks like a man who has just emerged from a scene in one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies.

“This budget is a product of the most severe economic crisis we have faced in decades,” Steinberg said.  “While this year’s budget agreement includes billions in painful and difficult cuts, it also recognizes that our future economic success depends upon maintaining key investments in our people and our state.  I am pleased we were able to maintain the level of education funding we did, minimize cuts to vital services, achieve collectively bargained agreements and accomplish some key reforms.”

In May of this year, the Governor identified a General Fund budget shortfall of $17.9 billion.  The budget approved today enacts approximately $18.2 billion in General Fund solutions to close the gap, and provides a final reserve of approximately $200 million.  But, in the end, this is just a respite from the budget fight.  It will simmer until the election is over, and then we’ll be right back here. Fighting over what exactly we want our government to do, or in the case of Republicans, how exactly we want to dismantle it.

You’ll find a breakdown of the cuts over the flip.

Cut	Amount
Prop 98 (K-14	$3.1 billion
Higher Education	$0.2 billion
Health & Human Services	$0.9 billion
Corrections	$1.1 billion
Employee Compensation	$1.5 billion
Other cuts	$0.5 billion
Total	$7.4 billion