California has its first good-news budget in years,
The San Jose Mercury News reports.
According to Gov. Jerry Brown, the Golden State’s proposed fiscal blueprint invests more in education, brings healthcare reform, and projects surpluses.
"We're in a better place," Brown said.
The budget pays down debt and creates a $1 billion reserve. It projects an $851 million operating surplus in 2013-2014; a $47 million surplus in 2014-15; $414 million in 2015-16; and $994 million in 2016-17.
The budget would increase state funding per student in K-12 schools to $2,700 by 2016-17 and funding for K-12 and community colleges by $2.7 billion next year and by $19 billion by 2016-17.
A lot of that is due to the success of Brown's Proposition 30 — which called for increased taxes to rescue the state's schools, the newspaper said.
"The boom and bust in our state's budget over the last decade is something we should not repeat," the governor's budget summary concludes.
"Instead, the state must live within its means, pay down debt, and build up a 'rainy day' fund — all to ensure a stable government that earns the respect of the citizens that pay for it."
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