March 28, 2008

Assembly Reeps cook up education plan

Saying they don't want to cut education, Assembly Republicans spent part of their retreat this week formulating a plan to fund schools without resorting to a suspension of Proposition 98.

In fact, GOP members said they think they can give a small year-over-year increase to K-14 programs – all without raising taxes.

"It's better than what the governor's proposed," Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, said Friday after blogging about the plan. "What it shows is if you take a hard long look at a budget that's in excess of $100 billion, you can find savings in adjusting resources to meet more pressing needs. And Republicans feel the most pressing needs are dollars that teach children rather than dollars that are not as directly involved in education."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to suspend Proposition 98 by cutting $4.8 billion from what he says schools should get next fiscal year. Instead of $60.4 billion for K-14 in the general fund, the governor would provide $55.6 billion.

Republicans say they think they can get education another $2 billion without suspending Proposition 98. The move would maintain year-over-year funding, they said.

DeVore wouldn't release details of the entire plan, but he said the caucus borrowed a few plays from the legislative analyst's alternative budget proposal -- except, of course, when it came to her suggestions for tax increases.

DeVore said the state already has the authority to lower the constitutional guarantee for school funding because general fund revenues have been falling below projections.

The state, he said, could then add $1 billion by sweeping up unspent education funds and suspending the Quality Education Investment Act, a grant program approved in 2006 as part of Schwarzenegger's settlement with the teachers union.

However, it's unclear where the rest of the money would come from. And it doesn't provide cost-of-living salary increases for teachers.

The GOP caucus could try to force a bill on Democrats, challenging the majority party's assertion that taxes are needed to protect public schools.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's spokesman, Steve Maviglio, said Republicans haven't shared their plan with Democrats.

"The Republicans have embraced the philosophy of a stop sign, so if they have some ideas to bring to the table, we're more than happy to sit down and discuss them," Maviglio said.

Posted by Judy Lin on March 28, 2008 4:32 PM