The word “budget” comes from the French word meaning leather bag or small purse. However, a small bag doesn’t hold much; one must be creative and efficient to get everything in.

The California State Budget is no different. Regardless of California’s economic conditions, the budget “purse” is never large enough; there are always demands for more programs and services than money available.

Nearly 90% of the State Budget is locked into place and is outside the control of either the Governor of the Legislature.

Budget-Related propositions 1879 - 2006

• 1879 Constitutional Convention: Initiated a two-thirds vote requirement for passage of local school bonds.
• 1911 Constitutional Amendment: Created the state initiative process.
• 1922 Commonwealth Club Initiative: Created the framework and timelines for consideration and enactment of the State Budget.
• 1933 Riley-Stewart Amendment: Established a two-thirds vote requirement for passage of the State Budget.
• 1978 Proposition 13: Capped property-tax rates and limited hikes in assessed values. Gave control of local property tax revenues to the state and required a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to increase taxes.
• 1979 Proposition 4: (Gann Spending Limit) Limited state and local expenditures, adjusted for inflation and population.
• 1982 Proposition 7: Implemented full indexing of income tax brackets to account for increases in the Consumer Price Index.
• 1984 Proposition 37: Created the State Lottery, earmarking the revenues for education.
• 1986 Proposition 62: Required a two-step voting process for local governments to raise new general taxes; required all special taxes to be approved by two-thirds of voters.
• 1988 Proposition 98: Required that 40% of General Fund revenues go to public schools and community colleges.
• 1988 Proposition 99: Raised cigarette taxes by 25¢ a pack and by an equivalent amount on other tobacco products; allocated proceeds to health services, anti-tobacco education and research on tobacco-related illnesses.
• 1990 Proposition 111: Increased the gasoline tax and revised the method for calculating the Gann Spending Limit. Modified Proposition 98, determining how much new revenues should go to schools.
• 1993 Proposition 172: Imposed a half-cent sales tax to pay for public safety services.
• 1998 Proposition 10: Raised taxes on cigarettes by 50 cents a pack and on other tobacco products by the equivalent of $1 a pack; allocated proceeds to early childhood development programs administered by a new state commission.
• 2002 Proposition 42: Required that gasoline sales taxes be used annually for state and local transportation projects.
• 2002 Proposition 49: Increased state grant funds available for before/after school programs, resulting in a permanent increase in the annual level of state appropriations for K-12 education.
• 2004 Proposition 58: Required the state to enact a balanced budget where expenditures do not exceed available revenues.
• 2006 Proposition 1A: Required that sales taxes on gasoline be used exclusively for transportation purposes.
  

Since 1922, voters have passed propositions that lock-down certain tax revenues or mandate spending on certain programs.  These “budget hand cuffs” have eliminated the Legislature and Governor’s ability to adequately provide for California’s needs by locking into place over 90% of the budget.