State Treasurer Lockyer seeks public input

The State budget enacted Feb. 20 requires the State Treasurer and Director of Finance to determine by April 1 whether California will receive at least $10 billion from the $789 billion federal economic stimulus package, called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and, possibly, other federal legislation.

To qualify, the federal funds have to be made available to California by June 30, 2010, and must offset expenditures that would otherwise be made from the State General Fund. If State funds must be spent to access the federal funds, those State expenditures, at least in some cases, will be subtracted from the dollars counted toward the $10 billion benchmark.

A decision by the Treasurer and Finance Director that the $10 billion threshold will be reached will trigger two budget adjustments: $947.5 million in spending reductions set to take effect July 1 will be restored; and the personal income tax rate increase will be reduced by $1.8 billion.

As required by the budget, the Treasurer and Finance Director will hold a public hearing to help them make the trigger determination.

The meeting will be held March 17 at 10 a.m. in the State Capitol, Room 4203, Sacramento.

Budget specifics if trigger is pulled

Restored Spending

SSI/SSP: $267.8 million

Courts (new judges, trial court operations, other): $171.3 million

CalWORKS: $146.9 million

MediCal Options: $129.4 million

In-Home Support: $78 million

MediCal Local Assistance/South Los Angeles Medical Services: $54.1 million

Univ. of Calif.: $50 million

Calif. State Univ.: $50 million

Personal Income Tax

The increase in the personal income rate drops from 0.25 percent to 0.125 percent.