Deukmejian Submits Budget of $44.3 Billion

Promising local schools nearly $1 billion more in the coming year, Gov. George Deukmejian sent a $44.3-billion state budget proposal to the California Legislature today.

The spending plan for the 1988-89 fiscal year, which begins July 1, proposes increases of 7.2% for local schools, 6.6% for health and welfare programs, 4% for pay and benefit increases for state employees and 14.4% more for operation of the state’s rapidly expanding prison system.

It provides for 1,200 new jobs in the Department of Transportation and 2,200 new jobs in prisons and other public safety agencies.

The proposed total spending package, counting federal funds spent or administered by the state, is $61.53 billion, of which $44.297 billion is state taxes and fees, an increase of 5.7% over the current year.

The Biggest Item

As always, education is the biggest expenditure item in the budget, totaling $24.9 billion from kindergarten through graduate school programs.

The education totals are:

--$13.56 billion in state funds for local schools, a $977-million, or 7.8%, increase over the current year. But local taxes, lottery funds and other school revenues bring the total to $18.147 billion, an overall $1.22-billion, or 7.2%, increase.

--$2.04 billion for the University of California, up $132 million or 7.0%.

--$1.86 billion for the state universities, a $118-million, 6.8% increase.

--$1.41 billion for the community colleges, an $84.7-million, 6.4% increase.

The Republican governor’s budget also contains a $1.1-billion reserve for emergencies and falls just $24 million, or about 0.05%, below the spending limit ceiling imposed by tax critic Paul Gann’s 1979 initiative.

On a dollar basis, education would get the biggest increase by far. But on a percentage basis, the 14.4% increase for prisons, from $1.45 billion this year to $1.66 billion in the 1988-89 fiscal year, is the biggest increase among major state programs.