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HAPPINESS, CHALLENGES SURROUND STATE BUDGET PASSAGE AND SIGNING

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Bay Area Council
– July 1, 2011Posted in: Education, Government Relations

This week, despite the mixed results of the state budget, the Council celebrated some big victories when funds for the statewide education data system were included as part of the final budget signed by Governor Brown.  As we noted several weeks ago, the “May Revise” budget suspended funds and development of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).  Thanks to our advocacy efforts and suspiciously timed editorials by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and Los Angeles Times, we were able to prevent the elimination of this critical, federally-funded program.

Our second victory came when the Governor also preserved nearly half a billion dollars in funding for early childhood programs.  The Council believes that the most cost-effective way to address the achievement gap in California students is to act early. Backed by hard data, we have found that preschool and other forms of childcare for single or economically-challenged parents have shown the highest return on investment in improving later education performance, plus reduce crime and other societal challenges.  The funding change, made possible due to unanticipated tax revenue, reverses what had been called “the most painful cut” the Legislature had to make earlier in the year.  It restores preschool and other childcare to 35,490 kids.

Many of our members are not pleased about the cuts to redevelopment and education, including cuts to higher education and strings that were attached to K-12 funding, preventing school districts from making independent staffing decisions.  We were also disappointed to lose the teacher companion piece of the CALPADS education data system, CALTIDES, when the Governor used his line-item veto yesterday.  But, on all of these issues, the Bay Area Council will continue the good fight.

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Bay Area Council Leadership Forum Speaker Series: Senator Mark Leno visits the Bay Area Council to talk budget options

By
Bay Area Council
– May 23, 2011Posted in: Government Relations

Senator Mark Leno, Chair of the Senate Budget Committee visited the Bay Area Council on Friday to talk about the current status of budget negotiations in Sacramento.  The good news was that May revise revenue figures were better than expected ($6.6 billion over 2 years) largely as a result of higher than projected sales tax revenues.  The bad news is that the revised figures have thrown somewhat of a spanner in the budget negotiations, and it is now less clear than ever what the final solution might be to close the remaining $10 billion, give or take, deficit in the state budget.

Senator Leno offered a number of possible scenarios for ballot measures that would raise revenues, including one possibility that would delay a vote on taxes until November 2012 when the makeup of the electorate would likely be more favorable to the Governor’s tax extension proposal.  The Senator thanked the Bay Area Council for our courage and leadership in supporting Governor Brown’s balanced budget and urged us to continue our call for a bipartisan solution to this critical problem.

Thank you to Bay Area Council member, Acteva for sponsoring our lunch, and to Government Relations Committee Co-Chair, Caroline Rodman of TY Lin, for hosting.

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COUNCIL GEARS UP FOR TWO BIG FIGHTS – DATA SYSTEM AND DEVELOPMENT

By
Bay Area Council
– May 20, 2011Posted in: Education, Transportation and Land Use

With Governor Jerry Brown’s May Revise of the state budget out this week, there are clearly some bright spots, including the unanticipated $6.6 billion in tax revenue to help close the deficit.  Governor Brown also plans to raise education spending by $3 billion and cut 43 state commissions and boards (by the way, we’re pretty confident that the state Sea Urchin Commission will be able to handle the work previously done by the California Commercial Sea Urchin Advisory Committee).  However, in reviewing the May revise, we were troubled by the Governor’s decision to suspend funding for CALPADS, the state student longitudinal data system (which will allow us to track student performance over time), and to stop further planning for CALTIDES, the state’s teacher database.  The Bay Area Council believes that when it comes to education, collecting more data, not less, is one of the main keys to improving student achievement and accountability in California.

Eliminating $3.5 million for the program also seems unwise since the funds were federally allocated and will therefore not help balance our shortfall.  We were pleased to see yesterday that the Legislative Analyst agrees with us, and recommended the legislature not defund the state’s student and teacher data systems, as proposed.  Expect the Council to fight tooth and nail on this issue.

In addition to education, the Council has been waging a battle this week on another front: the future of development in the Bay Area.  Bay Area Council President & CEO Jim Wunderman spoke out yesterday at the Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s (BCDC) public meeting, in support of transit-oriented, urban infill development.  BCDC is proposing a plan that would discourage development in low-lying waterfront areas, including areas such as Mission Bay and Pier 70 in San Francisco that are already “urbanized,” and areas around Moffett Field in the South Bay.  The Council believes that prohibiting building in these areas kills exactly the sort of development that will help cut green house gas emissions in the future, and we will continue to push BCDC to develop a Bay Plan that promotes smart growth throughout our region.

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