Prisons and Transportation in the California State Budget: Part of a Series of Essays by Sheila Kuehl

Aid to Local Law Enforcement

The budget gives the Department of Justice $6.5 million to create four new Gang Suppression Enforcement Teams. Local law enforcement gets $565 million (an increase of about 35% over last year) for crime reduction programs, including a grant program aimed at reducing recidivism among mentally ill offenders.

Transportation

There was a substantial increase in the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans budget) due primarily to a decision to repay a substantial amount of Prop 42 loans, explained more fully below. However, looking at real dollars aimed at projects, the funding is fairly flat, remaining at about $5.2 billion for transportation capital outlay, $1.5 billion for capital outlay support, $2.2 billion for local assistance and about $1.1 billion for highway operations and maintenance. The budget also provides about $1.5 billion for support of Caltrans’ mass transit and rail program.

Prop 42
The voters approved Proposition 42 in an effort to make sure that state gasoline tax revenues actually went for transportation purposes. However, over the last few years, the state has “borrowed” gas taxes to fill other gaps in the budget. The 06-07 budget fully transfers the gas tax revenue into the Transportation Improvement Fund and fills up most of the “buckets” created by the Proposition, as follows: $678 million for traffic congestion relief, $594 for state and local transportation projects, and $148 million for mass transit.

Increases beyond the “buckets”

Because gasoline prices have been sky-high, there has been a concomitant increase in gas tax revenues, making it possible to pay back (partially) monies that should have gone to transportation from prop 42 in past years ($200 million), as well as putting money into the Bay Bridge retrofit, farm worker transportation grants, high-speed rail development, transit assistance and mass transit development (all totaling about $460 million).

Paying back past years’ borrowing from Prop 42

In addition to the $200 million mentioned above from the spillover revenues from gasoline taxes, the budget pays back 1.4 billion for funds not turned over from prop 42 in 03-4 and 04-5. These funds will go, as is the case with this year’s funds, for traffic congestion relief, local and state projects, local roads and streets and mass transit. Overall, mass transit usually gets 8-9% of total transportation funds.

CHP & DMV

The California Highway Patrol receives about $1.6 billion in this year’s budget, an increase of about $120 million. This increase is needed to begin funding a multiyear project upgrading radio communications systems, and to hire additional patrol officers and 911 call center staff.

The Department of Motor Vehicles receives $848 million, about a $77 million increase. The increase will go to begin work on projects to improve the department’s computing infrastructure related to drivers’ licensing and vehicle registration programs.