Record Education Pork Barrel Projects in California’s Largest State Budget

California’s largest state budget ever — $214 billion — is larded with a record number of local pork-barrel projects injected by individual legislators, often in exchange for “horse trading”  votes on passage of certain pieces of legislation.

There is pork in every aspect of this budget as California Globe is reporting this week: General Government Augmentations in 2019-20 Budget, Education, Resources and Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Public Safety. 

This article will address the K-12 Education and Higher Education 2019-20 Budget – nearly $230 million of extras:

K-12 and Higher Education Augmentations

• $5 million in one-time General Fund for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in concurrence with the executive director of the State Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to contract for research on specified areas of the child care and early education system to be completed no later than October 1, 2020.
• UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education $1.2 million one-time to establish the Marcus Foster Ph.D. Fellowship program.
• $2.5 million one-time to UC Los Angeles Latino Policy and Politics Initiative.
• $3.5 million one-time for the UC Los Angeles Ralph J. Bunch Center for African American Studies.
• $7.5 million one-time to the Charles R. Drew University to increase student support services and support enrollment growth (Los Angeles: a private non-profit student centered University that is committed to cultivating diverse health professional leaders who are dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations through outstanding education, research, clinical service, and community engagement).
• $3.85 million one-time to UC for firearms-violence prevention training for health care providers.
• $10 million one-time for Conservation Genomics (University of California).
• $2 million one-time for the Marine Mammal Center (University of California).
• $1 million one-time for the Bulosan Filipino Studies Center at UC Davis.
• $2 million one-time for the UC Berkeley Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Department.
• Pomona Public Library $0.28 million one-time for facilities upgrades and program improvements
• $1 million one-time for California Humanities (State Library).
• $4.4 million one-time for Whittier Library service upgrades (Los Angeles).
• $1.5 million one-time for the expansion of Fillmore Library (Ventura County).
• $0.2 million for the development of a satellite library in Isla Vista (Santa Barbara).
• $0.5 million for Laguna Woods Library (Orange County).
• $2.5 million one-time for the City of Fullerton’s Hunt Library renovations (City of Fullerton, Orange County).
• $0.7 million one-time to CSU, Dominquez Hills Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (California State University).
• $5 million one-time for the CSU Channel Islands Child Care Center (California State University).
• $11.5 million one-time for the California Science Fellows (California State University).
• Approve project –Folsom Lake-Instructional buildings phase 2 (California Community College).
• Approve project- Mount San Jacinto-Math and Sciences building (California Community College).
• Approve project- Clovis-Applied Technology building (California Community College).
• Approve project- Irvine Valley-Fine arts building (California Community College).
• Approve project- Long Beach City Music/theatre complex California Community College).
• Approve project- Mount San Jacinto-Science and Technology, Math & Sciences Building (California Community College).
• Approve project- West Valley- Learning resource center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Los Rios -Natomas Education Center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Woodland-Performing arts facility (California Community College).
• Approve project- West Hills Lemoore-Instructional Center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Kern (Delano Center)-Learning Resource Center (California Community College).
• Approve project-  Laney-Theater buildings renovation (California Community College).
• Approve project- Chaffey Instructional Building 1 (California Community College).
• Approve project- Cerritos Health Sciences Building 26 renovation (California Community College).
• Approve project- Merritt Horticulture building replacement (California Community College).
• Approve project- Lake Tahoe- Science renovation (California Community College).
• Approve project- Porterville-Allied health building (California Community College).
• Approve project- Monterey Peninsula-Public safety center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Los Rios-Elk Grove Center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Reedley-New child development center (California Community College).
• Approve project- Cabrillo Buildings 500, 600 and 1600 renovation (California Community College).
• Approve project- Monterey Peninsula-Music facilities (California Community College).
• Approve project- San Mateo-Water supply tank replacement (California Community College).
• Approve project-San Francisco Ocean Campus-Utility Infrastructure approve $58 million Proposition 51 (California Community College).
• Approve project- San Francisco Alemany Center- Seismic and code upgrades approve $10.9 million Proposition 51 (California Community College).
• Approve project- Pasadena College, Armen Sarafian Building (California Community College).
• Approve $40.7 million Proposition 51 (California Community College).
• Santa Barbara City-Physical education replacement, approve $2.5 million Proposition 51. (California Community College).

TOTAL: nearly $230,000,000 million