The Governor's Proposed Budget in Brief

Governor Brown's initial proposal for next fiscal year is a mixed bag. Below, his recommendations are summarized by Dan Troy, Vice Chancellor, Fiscal Policy, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office:

• $196.7M in increased apportionment funding.  It is proposed that the Board of Governors will determine how those funds will be allocated (e.g., growth/restoration or COLA).
  
• $179M to buy down existing deferrals.  This would lower the total year over year deferrals from $801M to $622M.
  
• $49.5M to support energy efficiency efforts pursuant to the recently passed Proposition 39 ballot initiative.  The Governor intends the CCCs to expand career technical educational training and on-the-job work experience training in partnership with the California Conservation Corps and participating community conservation corps programs.
  
• $16.9M to enhance online education efforts in the CCCs, including the creation of a centralized Virtual Campus into a single hosting system, so students could find online courses and access 24/7 support through a common portal.  The proposal would further expand and enhance credit by exam options to make it possible for students to earn credit for core SB 1440 Transfer Degree courses and also for remedial coursework. One way that students would be able to acquire the skills necessary to pass these exams would be through MOOC providers.
  
• $300M in a shift of responsibility for Adult Education from K12 to the CCCs.  These dollars would be provided to districts in a block grant bases on students served in core instructional areas.
  
• 15.7M in a shift of responsibility for Apprenticeship from K12 to CCCs. 
  
• Replace long-standing provisional language concerning the funds for the Economic and Workforce Development Program with a requirement that the Chancellor’s Office submit an annual expenditure to the Department of Finance for approval (similar to SB 70).

The Governor’s proposal also includes some significant policy changes:

• A 5-year phase-in of funding apportionments on completion rather than on census date enrollment.  Unlike previous proposals, though, this is intended to be cost neutral, as districts would have funding lost through the apportionment shifted to student support efforts such as the Student Success and Support Program (formerly known as Matriculation). 
• A 90-unit cap for students.  Under this proposal, no state support would be provided for students that have exceeded 90 units. Students taking courses above the cap would be required to pay the full cost of instruction, with some provision for case-by-case waivers..  Similar limits are proposed for UC and CSU students.
  
• Alter Part B BOG fee waivers to require students to complete a FAFSA and include the incoe of both parents and the student to determine eligibility.

Of course, this proposal has a long way to go to approval. There will be analysis from the Legislative Analyst’s Office in the next few weeks, legislative review in subcommittees (March through May), and then a May revise. Stay tuned...