THE GOVERNOR’S BUDGET PROPOSAL : STATE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

Gov. George Deukmejian on Tuesday proposed a $47.8-billion budget for 1989-90. Some details:

THE BOTTOM LINE

Overall, the budget is 5.9% larger than the current spending plan, driven by increases in spending in most departments. Although there are no general tax increases, some fees are projected to go up, including those at the University of California and the California State University campuses. The largest spending increases are in public education, up 8%, and corrections, up nearly 13% due to a continued massive prison building program. The $47.8-billion budget grows to $66.2 billion when federal funds that flow to the state are included.

RESERVES

Although the governor had proposed to set aside roughly $1 billion last year for fiscal emergencies, the fund will have dwindled to only about $3 million by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Deukmejian’s new budget proposes to rebuild that reserve to about $1.1 billion.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The $15.1 billion proposed to be spent on education represents an increase of 8% over the current year, owing, in large part, to a $400-million boost provided by voter passage of Proposition 98, which guarantees schools about 40% of the state’s general fund. In grades K-12 spending per pupil will increase marginally to $3,739, up from $3,720 in the current fiscal year. Of the new money, $110 million will be used to reduce class size.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Spending by the University of California is to grow by 4% to $2.5 billion. To pay for that, Deukmejian proposes a 10% increase in student fees to $1,577 annually and an 11.5% increase in tuition for out-of-state students. They will pay $5,799 a year. Faculty salaries will grow by 4.7%. The budget provides $500,000 to begin planning for three new campuses and $188 million for improvements at existing campuses. Enrollment is expected to rise nearly 3% to 151,213 full-time students.

CAL STATE UNIVERSITIES

The state university system is to receive an 8.6% spending increase, bringing total spending to $2 billion. The governor proposes to raise student fees by 10% to $750 annually and boost tuition for out-of-state students to $5,670 yearly, a nearly 15% increase. To help offset the effect of the fees, the budget sets aside $3.3 million in financial aid for needy students. Faculty salaries are proposed to increase by 4.8%. Enrollment is expected to grow by 2.4% to 267,380 full-time students.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Community college spending is proposed to grow by 7.2% to a total of $2.4 billion. Of that, $113.6 million is expected to come from proceeds of the California Lottery. Among major items of spending are $117 million to assist districts in replacing obsolete instructional equipment and purchasing library materials and $6.5 million to carry out reforms in the college system’s governing structure.

HEALTH

Although spending for health and welfare services is proposed to increase 4.3%, there will be major reductions in some programs, including elimination of grants for family planning. Elimination of the office of family planning, which provides birth control, adoption and abortion counseling, will save the state about $36 million. The budget also proposes to reduce medical services to indigents by about $364 million. However, a new indigent medical program will be substituted, paid for by federal funds and the proceeds from a new tobacco tax approved by voters in November. Spending to combat acquired immune deficiency syndrome will increase marginally to $102.8 million from the current $101 million.

WELFARE

The governor proposes to freeze the level of payments for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and aid to the aged, blind and disabled. Suspending the automatic cost-of-living increases, which are required by existing law, would save an estimated $272 million. The budget also requires use of minimum-wage workers to provide in-home supportive services aimed at keeping the elderly and disabled at home and out of public institutions. Funding for the state’s workfare program would also be cut by $20 million, meaning some new applicants could be turned away.

TRANSPORTATION

Spending for transportation programs is to remain almost unchanged at $3.9 billion, up 1% from the current year. Because of the failure last June of the governor’s $1-billion transportation bond measure, Deukmejian is proposing to defer $360 million worth of construction projects and make some accounting changes that will free up additional money. Caltrans will add 135 new positions for road maintenance and 151 jobs for new construction projects. Among those to be funded is a $500,000 expansion of a demonstration project along the Santa Monica Freeway, which would allow local traffic authorities to coordinate traffic on the freeway and surrounding surface streets.

PUBLIC SAFETY

The Corrections Department, which operates the state’s prison system, gets the biggest boost under the budget, a 13% increase that brings spending for the upcoming year to $1.9 billion. The department proposes to add 2,300 new prison beds by June, 1990, and begin construction on three new prisons. Currently, there are 75,000 inmates in the corrections system, which is projected to grow to 86,000 over the next year. Spending for the California Youth Authority will go down by 2%, although the number of youthful inmates will increase by 258. The governor also proposes to hire 150 new Highway Patrol officers, bringing to 900 the number of new officers added since Deukmejian was elected in 1982.