State budget trigger cuts take hold

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Tuesday (Dec. 13) that the state will lop nearly $1 billion from its budget. A $2.2 billion shortfall in projected revenue triggered the mid- year cut. The billion-dollar slash comes courtesy of the automatic “trigger cuts” included in the budget passed by the state Legislature last June.

The cuts will be made in education, school busing, child care, health programs, public safety and libraries. The California State University and University of California systems, In-Home Supportive Services and the Department of Developmental Services each will see their budgets slashed by $100 million.

The $2.2 billion shortfall was actually not as bad as expected. Brown said the economy is improving, but not enough to close the long-festering budget deficit. “These cuts to universities, In-Home Supportive Services, schools, prosecutions are not good,” he said, “they are not the way we would like to run California, but we have to live within our means.”