Governor Brown Releases 2018-19 State Budget

On Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed FY 2018-19 State Budget, marking his final budget proposal of his eight year term. The $190.3 billion ($131.7 billion General Fund) budget includes a $6.1 billion surplus in revenues and would dedicate $3.5 billion of the surplus to the state’s rainy day fund, achieving the constitutional target of $13.5 billion in reserves.

True to form, Governor Brown stressed the need to adopt a prudent budget that considers both the needs of the state and prepares for the future. The proposed budget focuses largely on the rainy day fund, education, transportation infrastructure, and ongoing concerns over health care coverage amid federal uncertainty.

Following the release of the proposed budget, CHEAC produced a summary of the Governor’s 2018-19 Budget Proposal; that memo is available here. Additional budget resources will be posted on our CHEAC budget page throughout the year.

The California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) budget overview is available here and the California Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS) budget overview is available here.

Over the coming weeks, the Legislature will begin hearing proposed budget items, as well as stakeholder proposals. The Senate is scheduled to convene a budget overview hearing on January 18, and the Assembly will convene a similar hearing on January 23.