| The League of Women Voters of California encourages a NO vote on
Proposition 92 . This is a proposal for a Constitutional Amendment to make
changes in the funding, fees and governance of the California Community
Colleges.
Prop 92 would separate the K-14 system into two entities, the K-12 system and the CC system, locking the funding mechanism into the Constitution. This would decrease flexibility when state funds are low. Typically, the legislature is not willing to raise taxes, so deficit spending would have to be authorized to pay for the mandated CC spending levels. California's community college fees are currently the lowest in the nation. They would go from $20 per unit to $15 which would make a loss of about $70 million dollars a year to the system. Currently, one- quarter of CC students do not pay any fees because they demonstrate financial need. The Board of Governors would increase from 17 to 19 members. The League of Women Voters recommends a NO vote on Prop 92 because it takes away flexibility by locking specific funding earmarks into the Constitution. New revenue sources are not identified in this measure for times of tight state budgets. Therefore, cuts would have to be made in other areas such as health and welfare. Marilyn Singer, Action Chair League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City Marilyn Singer, Action Chair
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