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Board hears budget squeeze, Prop 98 rebenching and supports CalFresh bills to expand student food aid
Summary
The board received budget briefings showing a large state deficit and Prop 98 adjustments that shift $492 million associated with transitional kindergarten to K–12, discussed deferrals and program reductions, and heard staff support for AB 593 and SB 761 to expand CalFresh eligibility to roughly 220,000 community college students.
At its May 9 meeting the California Community Colleges Board of Governors heard a detailed budget presentation that emphasized the state’s budgetary squeeze and specific impacts to the community college system. Executive Vice Chancellor Chris Ferguson outlined the administration’s MABRA scenario and the May revise treatment of Proposition 98 that shifts costs for transitional kindergarten from community colleges to K–12, producing an estimated $492,000,000 impact to the colleges over a three‑year window.
Ferguson said the administration’s package relies on a combination of rainy‑day fund withdrawals, reappropriations and a $531,600,000 deferral in the budget year to preserve a focus on growth and cost‑of‑living adjustments (COLA) while reducing categorical COLA and some one‑time program investments. “The MABRA vision reflects a roughly $12,000,000,000 deficit,” Ferguson said, and he described how the state is using deferrals and other accounting measures to maintain funding for priority areas while acknowledging out‑year risk.
Staff walked the board through program-level shifts: reductions to collaborative ERP funding, cuts to one‑time supports for credit for prior learning and career passport resources, and changes to the list of facilities projects (two projects self‑withdrawn and one added: the Davies Hall project at American River College). Ferguson also noted that the administration will not provide additional resources to existing student housing grantees to cover cost overruns; districts would have to fund any local overages.
On the legislative front, government relations staff said they were tracking roughly 80–85 tier‑one bills and highlighted two measures on CalFresh: AB 593 (Wicks) and SB 761 (Ashby). Staff described SB 761 as potentially “historic,” saying it would require that campus‑based programs of study be considered local education programs that increase employability, which would make many more students eligible for CalFresh (California’s SNAP program). Staff estimated that opening eligibility could benefit roughly 220,000 community college students and could bring an estimated $513,000,000 in food benefits to California.
Board members and public commenters repeatedly raised concerns about the shift in the Prop 98 split and the timing of some changes. Member Amy Costa and others urged the board to press for phased implementation and more predictability given federal uncertainty and other fiscal pressures; members asked whether districts have the reserves to self‑fund any deferral and what tools the Chancellor’s Office has to assist at‑risk districts. Ferguson said districts’ reserves vary from about a month and a half to eight months, and the Chancellor’s Office uses fiscal forward sessions, modeling tools and, as a last resort, fiscal crisis management assistance including appointment of a special trustee or emergency apportionment (rare historically).
Public commenters from faculty, trustees and student advocates urged the board to ensure that any new mandates are aligned with funding and that student supports not be eroded. The board took the budget and legislative update as informational and continued to the rest of the agenda.
Next steps: staff said they will continue negotiations with bill authors on amendments, monitor suspense‑filed bills through the legislative deadline, and report back to the board on budget developments and any required follow up.
