Friday, June 26, 2020

Community College League of California Responds to 2020-21 Budget Deal 

SACRAMENTO, CA – In response to the 2020-21 legislative budget deal, Community College League of California (League) President & CEO Larry Galizio released the following statement:
 
"On behalf of the leadership of our 73 districts, the Community College League of California acknowledges the dedicated effort of Governor Newsom, Assembly Speaker Rendon, and President pro Tem Toni Atkins in crafting the budget deal as approved by the Legislature and sent to the Governor on Friday, June 26th. These extraordinary times call for courageous and creative leadership of which the people of California are fortunate to have.
 
The League commends the overall approach of deferrals over cuts as a means to maintaining access to our community colleges and allowing them to serve as a vital component of California’s economic recovery. Additionally, the League is encouraged that some of its priority items are in the budget deal, including: restoration of the Strong Workforce Program, insertion of a hardship waiver for districts on the deferrals, a two-year extension of the Hold Harmless provision of the Student Centered Funding Formula, deferral of the district contributions to pension increases, modification of the Fifty Percent Law, continuation of the approved Proposition 51-funded capital outlay projects and creation of a COVID-19 flexible block grant.
 
As this budget is likely the first of several responding to the global pandemic, we call upon the Governor and legislative leaders to grant community colleges the maximum flexibility to govern their resources while they focus on student equity and success. As such, the League objects to provisions in the budget which limit the districts’ ability to manage personnel costs, supersede collective bargaining and interfere with local governance. 
 
The League is also mindful that the overall scope of the deferrals, in the absence of further federal assistance, will impose a tremendous sacrifice on our districts in future budgets. As such, we call upon Senate Majority Leader McConnell to recognize the strategic benefit of investing in community colleges as a means of expanding access to higher education, retraining the unemployed, and strengthening the economy.    
 
Finally, the League calls upon all supporters of California Community Colleges to join in the campaign for the Schools & Communities First initiative, which will appear on the ballot in November and result in a much-needed increased investment in public education. Our students are worthy of this investment and our community colleges are essential to California’s future."

For more information about the 2020-21 State Budget, click here to review the Assembly Floor Report release on Monday, June, 22nd.
 

###

The Community College League of California (League), whose vision is Quality Public Community Colleges for All Californians, is a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a voluntary membership of the 73 local community college districts in California. The League promotes student access and success by strengthening colleges through advocacy, policy development, leadership development, and district services. Visit our website at www.ccleague.org.

Empty