We think that is good. But with additional funds also goes additional responsibility. And a significant area of concern for Republicans is the fact that this budget has stripped out the Governor's proposal for testing. There has to be a method to hold schools and school children accountable for their learning. This budget reflects that.
Republicans expect that to be a bare minimum of a shift back to local government.
That is the minimum acceptable level of property tax shift back to local government. We learned in the Prop 172 fight that if you take those funds that we earmark for law enforcement and give them to local government for discretionary purposes, they don't spend them on law enforcement. Now, this budget deletes funding for new prison construction and that's a concern. We are going to have to build a few more prisons in California. We are either going to do it now or after a federal judge orders the early release of felons.