How will the measures on the May 19 special election ballot affect our budget?
A. Some $6 billion to balance the state budget hangs in the balance of the election’s outcome. The six measures on the ballot were part of a budget compromise by the California Legislature and the governor to address a record $42 billion state deficit over 18 months. The budget plan relies on new revenue, spending cuts, borrowing and reforms that include placing restraints on state funding and establishing a rainy day fund for use in future budget crises. Passage of the measures would bring new funding to education, including community colleges, to help catch back up from recent state funding reductions. Failure to pass the measures would send legislators back to the drawing board for a new budget plan. An analysis by the Community College League of California projects $9.3 million in additional state funding reductions for Foothill-De Anza in 2009-10 if voters reject the ballot measures.
