Post by Logan on Jun 16, 2016 5:39:41 GMT -6
California lawmakers, acting on the constitutional deadline to pass a state budget without losing their pay, approved a new state spending plan Wednesday that targets more money at a range of programs yet puts off some key decisions on affordable housing and the state’s cap-and-trade program.
The $122.5 billion package repeals a controversial cap on welfare payments, includes more money for higher education, raises rates for child care providers and puts an additional $3 billion into the state’s rainy-day reserve, including an optional $2 billion shift demanded by Gov. Jerry Brown to protect against a feared economic downturn.
The pact also calls for borrowing $2 billion against revenue from the state’s mental health services tax to build housing for people with mental illness, a proposal that will be taken up Thursday in both houses. Other budget proposals are weeks away from action, if not longer. Talks will continue on spending $400 million on affordable housing in return for easing local government’s land use authority, and how to allocate money – potentially much less than expected earlier this year – from state auctions of pollution credits.
The main budget bill passed largely along party lines Wednesday afternoon. Democratic lawmakers praised the plan, highlighting its new spending as “investments” in the state’s future and a far cry from the deep spending cuts and red ink of recession-era proposals.
Read more here: www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article84036792.html
The $122.5 billion package repeals a controversial cap on welfare payments, includes more money for higher education, raises rates for child care providers and puts an additional $3 billion into the state’s rainy-day reserve, including an optional $2 billion shift demanded by Gov. Jerry Brown to protect against a feared economic downturn.
The pact also calls for borrowing $2 billion against revenue from the state’s mental health services tax to build housing for people with mental illness, a proposal that will be taken up Thursday in both houses. Other budget proposals are weeks away from action, if not longer. Talks will continue on spending $400 million on affordable housing in return for easing local government’s land use authority, and how to allocate money – potentially much less than expected earlier this year – from state auctions of pollution credits.
The main budget bill passed largely along party lines Wednesday afternoon. Democratic lawmakers praised the plan, highlighting its new spending as “investments” in the state’s future and a far cry from the deep spending cuts and red ink of recession-era proposals.
Read more here: www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article84036792.html