CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Bills on School Aid Signed by Governor

Legislation that would change the gasoline tax measure on the June 5 ballot by giving schools more money in poor tax-collection years has been signed by Gov. George Deukmejian. Sought by teachers, the measures by Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) will modify Proposition 111 to give schools extra money in low revenue years. The ballot proposition would raise the state’s Paul Gann constitutional spending limit and eventually double the 9-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax. Garamendi’s legislation would also provide definitions needed to make the initiative work. One bill signed by the governor guarantees that in low revenue years schools would be guaranteed at least the amount they received in the prior year, plus one-half percent of the entire prior year’s allocation. The second measure requires that the extra funding for schools must be spent on class size reduction.