How is Proposition 38 helping higher education?

More and more people are learning about Prop 38 and the long-term vision it offers for California’s students, families and communities.

Prop 38 also pays down state debt to reduce the budget deficit and can help prevent cuts to higher education and other programs we all care deeply about.  (I have a son in college, so what happens to higher education is something I think about alot.)

The “trigger” cuts to UC, CSU and Community Colleges that we’ve heard about are  not included in the language of either initiative. They were put in place in the state budget that the legislature adopted in June before the election. The legislature only adopted a scenariofor making cuts if Prop 30 fails; the Legislature did not adopt a similar plan for when Prop 38 passes.

Prop 38 makes available billions in new revenues to mitigate those cuts.

Prop 38 sets aside money in each of the first 4 ½ years for debt repayment. This frees up $3 billion per year that can help out higher education and the rest of thestate budget.In the first 18 months, Prop 38 frees up more than $4.7 billion – enough to cover the total proposed cuts to higher education. That's incredible!

As State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has said, the Legislature could go back and revise the budget it adopted in June based on the new revenues available in Prop 38. If recent history is an indicator, the legislature has experience atdoing just that, especially if it will help prevent those cuts.

It is important that we pay attention to what we are voting for and what the consequences are long term.