Why advocates need to know about the Gann limit with guest Scott Graves

<p>The Gann limit hovers over the California capitol like an ominous cloud on an otherwise sunny day.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Despite massive tax revenues and a <a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-budget-newsom/" target="_blank">projected discretionary budget surplus of $20.6 billion</a> (<a href="https://ktla.com/news/california/californias-budget-surplus-may-be-as-much-as-23-billion-bigger-than-previous-projection/" target="_blank">with a strong potential to exceed this amount by $15 billion</a>), the state must abide by an arbitrary spending cap adopted over 40 years ago - the Gann limit.&nbsp;This limit severely restrains any new investment by the Governor and Legislature.&nbsp;</p> <p><br></p> <p>Budget advocacy is already very challenging. Gann ensures that advocates will battle a terrible headwind, especially for spending proposals that do not meet the narrow exclusions allowed by Gann.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Today I talk with Scott Graves, Research Director at the <a href="https://calbudgetcenter.org/" target="_blank">California Budget and Policy Center</a>,&nbsp;a non-profit and non-partisan research group based in Sacramento. We break down the Gann limit and discuss what's at stake for advocates as they advance their FY 22-23 budget proposals.</p> <p><br></p> <p>We discuss:</p> <p>01:59 - What is the Gann limit?</p> <p>06:49 - What are the state's options for dealing with the Gann limit?</p> <p>08:24 - What is infrastructure spending?</p> <p>09:26 - What qualifies as emergency spending?</p> <p>12:18 - What about reducing revenue?</p> <p>13:24 - What does this mean for advocates?</p> <p>16:54 - Wait, there's more: how Gann interacts with Prop 98 and Prop 2 is creating even bigger problems for advocates (and the Governor)</p> <p>22:03 - The Gann limit will continue to be a problem for advocates after 2022</p> <p>23:41 - How can we fix the Gann limit?</p> <p><br></p> <p><a href="https://www.kbhadvocacy.com/podcast/gannlimit/#transcript" target="_blank">Episode Transcript</a></p> <p><br></p>