Thursday, May 16, 2024

As expected, the Governor’s 2024-25 May Revision budget proposal grapples with an even larger gap between projected and actual revenues, increasing the state’s budget problem by an additional $7 billion. What was unexpected, however, was the sparse budgetary detail delivered piecemeal between the lengthy press conference on Friday, May 10 and the statutory deadline of Tuesday, May 14.  In that window of time, we learned that the Administration’s proposed cuts, if enacted, would severely impact counties’ ability to deliver on services and programs that Californian’s rely upon: the social safety net, housing, homelessness services, public safety, and infrastructure.

Click here to read CSAC’s complete summary of the 2024-25 May Revision Budget

As the state and county budgets are woven together, county leaders know that the state will need county expertise and ground truth from their primary intergovernmental partner to balance the budget in a manner that meets our collective responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of Californians.

In the coming weeks, the budget negotiations will begin in earnest, with the tight constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass the budget bills by June 15. Budget committees and their subcommittees in the Assembly and Senate will hold hearings to review the Governor’s May Revision budget proposals and craft the legislative vehicles that will eventually become law.

As county leaders, now is the time to make your community’s voice heard by providing written comments or in-person testimony directly to these committees: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee and Assembly Budget Committee. CSAC will provide template letters for submission to both legislative budget committees and the Administration soon.

We also encourage you to contact legislative staff and officials from your region to share the county perspective and your own budget priorities and areas of concern: Senate Roster; Assembly Roster.

Your CSAC advocacy team has been working tirelessly for months to shape this year’s budget. However, we are stronger together and by making our collective voices heard during the coming weeks we can help craft a budget that serves all of our communities.

We look forward to providing you updates, advocacy tools (click here to access our social media toolkit) and analysis as the budget process evolves over the coming days. 

For more detail or to ask specific questions, please contact CSAC legislative staff.