May 11, 2018

Governor Brown has released the May Revision to his January Budget Proposal and while there is still a long process before a final budget is signed in mid-June, the Revision reflects a strong economy, a budget surplus of more than $8.8 billion and overall good news for California Counties. The CSAC analysis of the changes from January’s budget proposal is available here, and the analysis of the January budget proposal is at this link.

“Today’s Revision to the January Budget Proposal reflects the positive state of California’s economy and the high value Governor Brown places on the state-county partnership,” said CSAC Executive Director Graham Knaus. “California counties are especially pleased to see that relationship reflected in additional funds for homelessness, significant new money for forest health and wildfire prevention, and repaying counties for unfunded mandates. In short, the new budget proposal addresses pressing current needs with one-time funds, and through additional reserves, will help reduce the impact from the well-documented uncertainty of state revenue.”

The May Revision will also be one of the main topics at the CSAC Legislative Conference next week, May 16 and 17. We have four leading Legislators lined up for a panel discussion on Wednesday morning: Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins; Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon; Senator Holly Mitchell, Chair of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee; and Assembly Member Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Chair of the Local Government Committee.

The discussion and interactions with Legislators just a few days after the release of the May Revision should help set the stage for the next month of budget discussions leading up to the June 15 deadline. Online registration for the Legislative Conference is now closed, however, you can still register on-site at the Sacramento Convention Center starting at 7:30 on the morning of Wednesday, May 16.