Two Weeks Past Deadline, Assembly Approves State Spending Plan
More than two weeks after missing the July 1 deadline to pass the state budget, the Assembly yesterday approved a $101 billion spending plan by the minimum 54 votes required for a two-thirds majority, the Sacramento Bee reports. The budget includes an estimated $8 billion for social services, including child health and welfare programs (Sanders, Sacramento Bee, 7/17). In addition, the spending package allocates about $30 million to the state's hospital trauma care system and provides funding to expand Healthy Families to parents of eligible children. The Assembly-passed budget also includes a $2.2 billion reserve, which could grow to $2.6 billion after Gov. Gray Davis (D) finishes making cuts to some programs (Tamaki/Bustillo, Los Angeles Times, 7/17). The spending measure now moves to the Senate and could be considered as early as today (Sacramento Bee, 7/17).
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