What has changed is that many of the budget solutions proposed by the Governor in January are no longer available.  Among those solutions was the $6.9 billion the Governor planned on receiving from the federal goverment.  Those dollars will be much less when the negotiations are completed. 

 

The good news is that the Governor continues to support our California Community College system and the May Revise remains virtually unchanged from the Governor's budget in January.  The highlights that continue to be a part of the Governor's budget include:

 

 

New, in the May Revise, is the elimination of the CalWORKS program.  The Governor has recommended that these funds be used to support other categorical programs across-the-board through the use of flexibility legislation.

 

The May Revise also proposes the elimination of the child care program currently funded under Proposition 98.  This program provides child care services for 142,000 low-income individuals state-wide.  The Governor has spoken about potentially shifiting some of the costs to federal funding at a lower rate of reimbursement.

 

The Governor's original budget also called for the reduction of $10 million from the EOP&S program and $10 million from the part-time faculty allocation.  Both of these reductions would have significant impact on SBCCD.

 

It is important to note that the budget is far from finalized.  There will be many months of political deliberation in the state legislature to pass a final budget by June 30 so we can begin the new fiscal year.  There is the possibility that the budget will not be finalized by that time and we will go into the summer, and possibly the fall, without a final budget.

 

Another major concern for the community colleges is the state cash shortfalls.  This has led to deferrals in funding of many millions of dollars for SBCCD.  This year, we borrowed short-term funding for cash-flow and used our cash reserve funds.  Next year, we will need to do the same.  This is one reason why it's so important to have adequate reserve balances.  

 

Unless there are significant changes in the state budget for community colleges we plan to make it through 2010-2011 with no layoffs.  The SERP is providing us with the funds to manage enrollments and staff commitments for the next fiscal year.

 

Despite the continuing uncertainty, we should thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his commitment to education and for sticking to the original budget for the Calfornia Community College system for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.