California meltdown
By Robert Speer
roberts@newsreview.com
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Congress manages to pass a massive health-insurance bill, but the State Legislature still can’t resolve its budget deficit.
Weds., March 10: Sacramento Bee political columnist Dan Walters reports, on Capitol Alert, that, according to a study by the California Postsecondary Education Commission, California’s colleges and universities will face an enrollment demand of nearly 400,000 more students by the end of the decade, up from 2.36 million to 2.75 million. They will need another $1.5 billion a year in operating revenue to handle the growth, Walters writes.
Weds., March 10: In February, for the third month in a row, state revenues came in above projections, state Controller John Chiang says in his monthly financial report, exceeding Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget expectations by $480 million, or 8.7 percent.
Thurs., March 11: Democratic legislative leaders propose a wide-ranging overhaul of the state budgeting system. Among other things, it calls for budget passage by a simple majority vote and lawmakers to forfeit pay if they fail to pass a budget by June 25. It also would require them to identify a funding source for any bill increasing costs by $25 million or more. Although it would require a two-thirds vote to approve fees that would replace an existing tax, Republicans quickly