California Fiscal Federalism: A School Finance Perspective
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Description
California’s system of public finance has undergone a radical change over the past 20 years. This change was brought about by the actions of a wide group of interested political actors – by citizens, through the initiative process; by the legislature, through the passage of a variety of fiscal measures; by the executive, through the administration of a California finance system that became more centralized over time; and by the judiciary, through decisions that have substantially restricted the funding options available to local school districts. This paper provides a critical review of the important actions that have altered California’s fiscal federalist system. I begin with a brief review of the constitutional limits that existed in California’s federalist system prior to the 1970s. Next, I focus on California school finance; schooling is not on y the most important budgetary item for California governments, it has also been affected fundamentally by both the initiative process and the judiciary. The following section extends the discussion beyond school finance to the general fiscal budget. Finally, I comment on the implications of the analysis for California Constitutional federalism.
Source Publication
Constitutional Reform in California: Making State Government More Effective and Responsive
Source Editors/Authors
Bruce E. Cain, Roger G. Noll
Publication Date
1995
Recommended Citation
Rubinfeld, Daniel L., "California Fiscal Federalism: A School Finance Perspective" (1995). Faculty Chapters. 1860.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1860
