Bill Text: CA SCA21 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public finance: higher education and corrections.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-26 - Referred to Coms. on B. & F.R. and E. & C.A. [SCA21 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SCA21-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SCA 21 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator De León
APRIL 19, 2012
A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California
an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by adding Section 8.7
to Article XVI thereof, relating to public finance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCA 21, as introduced, De León. Public finance: higher education
and corrections.
The California Constitution provides that, from all state
revenues, there shall be first set apart the moneys to be applied by
the state for support of the public school system and public
institutions of higher education, and establishes a minimum amount to
be applied for the support of school districts and community college
districts, as specified.
This measure would further require that, in the 2013-14 fiscal
year, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the amount appropriated
from the General Fund of the state for the support of public
institutions of higher education, as defined, be greater than the
amount appropriated from the General Fund of the state for the
support of the state prison system, as defined.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
WHEREAS, In the 20th century, California led the nation, and the
world, in the number of high school graduates who continued on to
college and earned degrees. Our famed public higher education system
profoundly shaped the aspirations of the State's citizens and,
ultimately, their views on what it meant to be a Californian. Our
system also attracted talent from throughout the nation and the
world, and it helped build and sustain an entrepreneurial spirit that
shaped new sectors of the State's economy, from microchips to
biotechnology; and
WHEREAS, Educational attainment levels predict the overall
economic performance of a state or nation. California was
historically among the top states in degree-completion rates, but now
it ranks among the bottom 10 states; and
WHEREAS, In the year 2000, the State contributed $18.6 billion to
public institutions of higher education and this funding has declined
every year since then. In the 2010-11 fiscal year, the State
contributed $12.3 billion to higher education. The share of
expenditures borne by students in the form of fees has tripled, from
13 percent in 2000 to 40 percent in 2011; and
WHEREAS, The rising cost of incarcerating prisoners combined with
a decrease in spending on rehabilitation programs further depresses
our economy; and
WHEREAS, According to data from the Department of Finance, in the
2010-11 fiscal year, the State invested $3,329 per student in higher
education as compared to $61,710 per inmate in state prison; and
WHEREAS, In 1977, the population of California's prisons was
19,600 inmates. Today, that population is more than 130,000 inmates,
which is more prisoners than in France, Great Britain, Germany,
Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands combined. After spending $5.2
billion on prison construction over the last 15 years, California now
has not only the largest but also the most overcrowded prison system
in the United States. The United States has less than 5 percent of
the world's population, but it has nearly a quarter of the world's
prisoners; and
WHEREAS, Voters have chosen to pass public safety ballot
initiatives without specifying funding sources to cover their cost,
thereby forcing cuts to higher education, health care, and
transportation; and
WHEREAS, By 2018, 63 percent of all jobs in the United States will
require some form of postsecondary education or training, according
to estimates by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the
Workforce. The United States is prepared to deliver only a fraction
of this education. Currently, only 38 percent of America's young
adults have a college degree, compared to 58 percent of South
Koreans; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, the Assembly concurring, That the
Legislature of the State of California at its 2011-12 Regular Session
commencing on the sixth day of December 2010, two-thirds of the
membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of
the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be
amended as follows:
That Section 8.7 is added to Article XVI of the California
Constitution, to read:
SEC. 8.7. (a) In the 2013-14 fiscal year, and in each fiscal
year thereafter, the amount appropriated from the General Fund of the
State for the support of public institutions of higher education
shall be greater than the amount appropriated from the General Fund
of the State for the support of the state prison system.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Public institutions of higher education" means community
college districts, the California State University system, and the
University of California system.
(2) "State prison system" means all entities and operations under
the management and control of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation or any successor state entity.
