Speaker pro Tem Mullin’s Statement on the California Legislature’s Adoption of the State’s 2019-20 Spending Plan

“Today, the California State Legislature passed its ninth on-time, balanced budget in as many years. As Speaker pro Tem and a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I am proud of the hard work done by everyone involved, from the budget sub-committees, the two house conference committees and Governor Newsom and his staff.

The 2019-20 budget is both fiscally prudent and progressive. This budget increases the Rainy Day Fund to a total of $19.4 billion and also contributes to pension obligations by over $4 billion which helps ease the burden on school districts.

This budget invests heavily in our children by allocating $81 billion toward Prop 98 spending for K-12 education, $1.5 billion in Prop 51 spending for school construction and $300 million to build full day kindergarten classrooms. The intent of AB 452, my bill addressing the severe shortage of childcare facilities was also incorporated into this budget, allocating Governor Newsom’s $245 million proposal for childcare facilities grants. These grants can include construction of new facilities, renovation, modernization and repairs of existing facilities with priorities going to facilities serving infants and toddlers; a key goal of Build Up San Mateo County. The education portion of the budget also allocates funding for the CSU system to report on the potential need for new campuses in four locations, including San Mateo County.

Other budget items with direct benefit to San Mateo County include, $3 million for Multi-Benefit Stormwater Capture to be managed by C/CAG, $1.5 million for repairs to the Pacifica Beach Boulevard Promenade and $2 million toward the County of San Mateo’s purchase  and preservation of Cloverdale Ranch and Gordon Ridge.

I am also pleased that the funding allocation for mental health services, specifically early psychosis, will be addressed in this budget. In 2017, Governor Brown signed my AB 1315 establishing the Early Psychosis Detection and Intervention Fund. This budget provides $20 million for early psychosis intervention grants allowing the program established via AB 1315 to move forward.

As our local affordable housing crisis continues, I am pleased with the commitment of $2.4 billion to address housing needs.

No budget is completely perfect and while I am encouraged by the additional investments in our developmentally disabled community, we need to redouble our efforts to implement the Developmentally Disabled Services rate study so more can be done to support these individuals.   I will continue to work with my legislative colleagues to evaluate and allocate supplemental funding through trailer bills as appropriate.”