THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Commentary Prop. 25: The State Budget and Incremental Reform in a Polarized Era Kenneth Burt California Federation of Teachers This year California passed an on-time budget, a direct consequence of voters passing Proposition 25 in Novem- ber 2010. The new law—which allows legislators to pass a budget by a majority vote, as done in all but a few other states—has had the effect that advocates promised. The on-time budget has provided increased certainty for schools, municipalities, and special programs in pre- paring their budgets. It is very hard for a school district, for example, to know how many teachers to hire for opening day in August if there is no budget until November. It has Volume 3, Issue 1, 2011 also allowed the state to pay cash strapped venders and other small businesses for a variety of goods and services. For many, the good news of an on-time budget is miti- gated by painful cuts in education and other programs cherished by the Democratic majority. These cuts resulted from declining revenues due to the recession and refusal of the minority Republicans to join Democrats to achieve the required two-thirds needed to raise revenues—or even to let voters decide if they wanted to extend current taxes in order to lessen the impact on the recession-ravaged state budget. But it could have been worse. The initiative succeeded in preventing Republicans from forcing even deeper cuts by demanding—as they have in the past—additional cor- porate tax cuts as their price for voting for a budget. How did voters come to pass Prop 25? The California Federation of Teachers, along with initial partners such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, California School Employees, and California www.bepress.com/cjpp