California Governor Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders claim they've reached a "conceptual" budget agreement for the fiscal year that starts July 1st.
Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg said the spending plan eliminates a $16 billion dollar shortfall and it's balanced both now and in the future.
"The more ongoing solutions we can put into place now, the quicker we won't have to head to a June 15th budget deadline with a deficit," said Steinberg.
Under the deal, legislative Democrats were able to minimize the governor's proposed cuts to welfare and child care. In exchange, the Healthy Families program that provides health care subsidies for low-income children will be eliminated … and the kids will be shifted to California's Medicaid program.
The spending plan relies on voters passing the governor's sales and income tax measure this fall. That initiative officially qualified for the November ballot Wednesday night. If it fails, schools would lose money equivalent to three weeks of classes.
