Legislative Update

May Revision to Be Released on Friday, May 13

On Friday, May 13, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom will release the May Revision, which is the final opportunity for Governor Newsom to update his revenue projections prior to the enactment of the State Budget in June.

Governor Newsom will hold a press conference on his revised State Budget at 10 a.m. on Friday. You can view the press conference on the @CAgovernor Twitter page, the California Governor Facebook page, or the Governor’s YouTube channel.

We will use subsequent ACCCA Updates to keep you apprised of Governor Newsom’s revised State Budget proposals and how the Legislature shapes their version of the Budget, which is constitutionally required to be approved by both houses by June 15, 2022.

Senate Budget Education Committee Takes Action on Higher Education Items

On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education held their final hearing before the release of the May Revision. The subcommittee also approved a number of budget items related to higher education that will now be sent to the full budget committee for consideration. The approved items related to California Community Colleges (CCC) include:

• $373 million one-time for the construction phase of 17 CCC projects
   
• An increase of $20 million one-time to support emergency student financial assistance grants to eligible AB 540 students
   
• $1.1 million ongoing to support the expansion of African American Male Education Network and Development (A2MEND) student charters to an increased number of community college districts
   
• An increase of $105 million one-time to support the systemwide implementation of a common course numbering system pursuant to the provisions of AB 1111 (Berman, Statutes of 2021)
   
• An increase of $25 million one-time to assist community colleges with the procurement and implementation of software that clearly maps out intersegmental curricular pathways
   
• An increase of $65 million one-time for community colleges to implement the transfer reform provisions required by AB 928 (Berman, Statutes of 2021)
   
• An increase of $10 million to augment resources provided to community college financial aid offices
   
• An increase of $10 million to support the sustainable implementation of Equal Employment Opportunity Program best practices to diversify community college faculty, staff, and administrators 

Assembly Democrats Present Budget Priorities

Over the last two weeks, each house has released a budget blueprint that highlights their 2022-23 State Budget priorities for their upcoming negotiations with the Newsom Administration. In last week’s ACCCA Update, we reviewed the Senate Democrats’ ‘Putting California’s Wealth to Work’ budget plan, which highlighted the upper houses’ budget priorities. Last Thursday, May 5, 2022, the Assembly Democrats presented their budget priorities to caucus members and while not as detailed as the Senate’s plan, included the following higher education budget priorities:

• Modernizing Cal Grant to simplify and expand the program, supporting 150,000 additional students
   
• Increasing support for student housing to cut costs for students and allow enrollment growth
   
• Expanding enrollment at both University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU)
   
• Supporting UC/CSU campus facilities to encourage enrollment growth

There is a strong chance that legislative leadership will forgo the formal conference committee process and adopt the main State Budget bill by June 15. This is the strategy that the Legislature utilized last year that put them in a strong negotiating position with the Newsom Administration as it bought the parties more time to come to an agreement on the final State Budget. With the state operating as a Democratic trifecta, legislative leadership and Governor Newsom will do everything they can to present a united front, especially during an election year.