gpcadvisors
Just a quick note to bring you up-to-speed on what is happening in Sacramento.
The Legislature has finished its work, and the Governor has signed and/or vetoed thousands of bills that made it to his desk.
If there was a central theme to some of the Governor’s actions, it was that he was reluctant to sign into law many bills that obligated the state to spend funds into the future. As he indicated in several veto messages, tax revenues were coming into state coffers at a severely reduced rate.
That said, because of the fiscal prudence of state leaders in past-years’ budgets, California has a comfortable cushion in rainy-day funds to mitigate any revenue reductions, thus tempering the boom-and-bust cycles of education spending many of us have experienced over the past decade or two.
Looking forward to next year in the Legislature, big changes will be in the air. Due to a combination of term limits and retirements, fully one-third of members will be new to the Assembly and Senate, a rate unheard of in over a decade. For those of us in education, both Chairs of the Assembly and Senate Education Committees will be new in January. They will bring new approaches and perhaps new energy to education legislation.
In addition, there will likely be a battle for leadership of the State Assembly, as Assemblymember Rivas (D-Salinas) has already mounted a challenge to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), who will himself be termed out in 2024.
Please be assured we will tracking legislative and administration activities closely on your behalf -- as the Executive Director of CAWS, and as your Strategic Advisor in Sacramento, with years’ of experience in navigating state and local policy and budget decisions, we stand ready to answer your questions and address your concerns.
-With Best Regards
Gavin and Robin