HSFC_2017_01_11

A10|Wednesday,January 11, 2017|SFChronicle.com XXXXX•

FROM THE COVER

for state building moderniza-
tion thatwas not spent.

1 Spending$2.1 billion more
on public schools and commu-
nity colleges in 2017-18, in-
stead of $3.8 billion more,by
adjusting the Proposition 98
formula that guarantees fund-
ing. K-14 would receive $73.
billion in the next fiscalyear
under the proposed budget.

1 Pausing rate increases for
child care and freezingstate
spending, including money
that implements new leg-
islation.

1 Phasing out theMiddle
Class Scholarship program so
that no newUniversity of
California or CaliforniaState
Universitystudents receive
them.The 37 ,000 students
who already receive the grants
would remain eligible, butby
2020-21 the programwould be
eliminated to save the state
$115.8 million ayear.
Assembly Speaker Anthony
Rendon, D-Paramount (Los
Angeles County), said he will
not support theMiddle Class
Scholarship cut,which would
come as theUniversity of
California and CaliforniaState
Universitysystems propose
raising tuition.
“Ending theMiddle Class
Scholarshipwould increase
the cost of astudent’s four
year educationby up to
$9,000 at CSU andup to
$20,000 at UC,” Rendon said
in a statement.
Budget negotiations in re-
cent years have beencharac-
terizedby Brown’s insistence
that thestate be cautious in
its spending, with hisJanuary
proposal providing astarting
point for six months of negoti-
ations.The last time thegov-

ernor’s proposal projected a

deficit was in 2012.

“I was surprisedby how

pessimistic the budget is,”

said AssemblymanPhil Ting,

D-SanFrancisco,chairman of

the Assembly budget commit-

tee. “He’s askingeveryone to

tighten their budgets without

muchbelt-tightening from the

executive branch.”

The governor cited lower

than expected revenue, which

fell short of estimates in five

of the past seven months.

Despite that, revenues areup

3 percentoverall.

He proposes expanding the

rainy-day fundby an addi-

tional$1 billion, bringing the

total to$7.9 billion in reserves.

Republican lawmakers

praised Brown’s commitment

to setting aside money, but

several said thegovernor is

not doing enough toaddress

the state’ s huge unfunded

pension liabilities.

“These need to bead-

dressed,” said SenateRepub-

licanLeader Jean Fuller, R-

Bakersfield.

State lawmakers have em-

phasized the need toaddress

the state’ s woefully dated

roads and bridges.In his

budget, thegovernor pushed

the same transportation pack-

age he introduced in 2015,

which would create a new$

highway user fee paidby

California drivers, plus higher

taxesat the gas pump.

His proposal, a 10-year

funding plan of nearly $

billion,would need two-thirds

approval in both houses of the

Legislature to pass.Repub-

licans said theydo not sup-

port the new fee and tax in-

crease,while some Democrats

said the plandoesn’t go far

enough toaddress thestate’s

long-term transportation

needs.

In addition to the gas tax

hike and driver fee, Brown’s

budget proposal calls for

spending $4.2 billion each

year to fix thestate’ s aging

highway system, muchof

which was built from the

1950s to the early 19 70s.

Brown said Tuesday that

it’s critical that thestate look

aheadat the likelihood a re-

cession is onits way. The

state’ s economy has been on

an eight-year upswing, three

years longer than anaverage

recovery. He said the bestway

to protectagainst future cuts

is to continue to build the

state’ s rainy day fund and

limit new spending.

One of the biggest qu estions

heading into Brown’s release

of his budget proposalwas

how thegovernorwould ad-

dress the potential loss of the

Affordable CareAct and the

federal funding that comes

withit.

President-elect Donald

Trump and congressional

Republicans have vowed to

dismantle the Affordable Care

Act, but little is knownabout

whatthey will have replace

the law.The Affordable Care

Act dramatically increased the

number of residents enrolled

in Medi-Cal, thestate pro-

gram that provides free health

care to low-income people,

seniors, people with disabili-

ties andchildren in foster

care.

The federalgovernment

covers the bulk of thestate’s

cost for the$19 billion expan-

sion to theMedi-Cal program,

which now serves a third of

the state’ s population, or

about 14 million people.

“It’s sufficient to say if they

go down that road(of repeal-

ing the Affordable CareAct) it

will be extremely painful for

California andwe will re-

spond the bestway we can at

that point,” Brown said.

Melody Gutierrez is a San

Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Email:[email protected].

Twitter:@MelodyGutierrez

Brown’s cost-cutting proposals trouble Democrats

State budget from page A

Paul Chinn /The Chronicle

Gov. Jerry Brown presentsthe summary of his 2017-18 Californiabudget, which anticipates the

first deficit since 2012. Brown’s sol utions made some Democratic legislators uneasy.

the campaign,Trumpvowed

to direct hisattorneygeneral

to opensuchan investigation.

Sessions had previously

said hewould appoint a spe-

cial prosecutor to investigate

Clinton.The FBI investigation

into her email server is closed

and a preliminary investiga-

tion into the ClintonFounda-

tion is open, but officials have

said there is little basis togo

forward.

Defending himselfagainst

charges that he is racist, Ses-

sions told the panel that as

someone raised in Alabama

he had witnessed discrim-

ination firsthand. “Ideeply

understand the history of civil

rights and the horrendous

impact that relentless and

systemic discrimination and

the denial ofvoting rights has

had on our African American

brothers and sisters,” he said.

Brown, the SanFrancisco

pastor, said outside the hear-

ing room that he mistrusted

suchavowals, based on

tion of federal civil rights
laws, makes him a dangerous
choice forattorneygeneral.
The NAACP Legal Defense
and EducationalFund issued
a 32-page report concluding
that Sessions had amassed “a
deeply and consistently trou-
bling record on issues of civil
rights, racial justice, and
equality,”adding,“This is not
a close call.”
Protesters punctuated
Tuesday’s hearingby peri-
odicallyshouting, “NoTrump,
no fascist, no KKK” and other
slogans as theywere forcibly
removed from the packed
Beaux Arts room.
But Sessions, an Alabama
senator for twodecades, has
won unreserved support from
his fellowRepublicans and
appears headed for confirma-
tion. Sen. Susan Collins of
Maine, one of the last GOP
moderates on CapitolHill and
among the most likely to
swit ch sides on any issue,
personally introduced Ses-
sions as “a trusted colleague
and agood friend,” and “a
person of integrity and princi-
ple.”
Feinstein and other Demo-
crats, howeve r, raised many
areas of concernduring the
daylong hearing, drawing on
Sessions’ longvoting record
that positioned him as avoice
of thefar rig ht. As polite and
modest in his personal bear-
ing as his policy positions are
doctrinaire, Sessions “is
someonewho many of us on
this committee have worked
with for 20years,”Feinstein
said.“That makes thisvery
difficult for me.”
Drawing a distinction be-
tween his role as senator and
that asattorneygeneral, Ses-
sions pledged toabide by
laws withwhich he person-
ally disagrees.
He said unequivocally that
waterboarding is “illegal,”
despite President-elect Donald
Trump’s promise to usesuch
tortureagainstsuspected
terrorists, and also promised
to recuse himself from any
potential investigation of
Democratic presidential nomi-
nee Hillary Clinton’s use of a
private email server when she
was secretary ofstate. During

Trump’s“divisive and racist

politics, all the misogyny, and

all the dishonesty.”

Sessionswas the first, and

for months, the only GOP

senator to endorseTrump last

year, finding common ground

with the president-elect’s

hard-line views on immigra-

tion.As senator, he fought

relentlessly ag ainst efforts to

overhaul immigration law,

arguing that the record influx

of lo w-wage workers was

undermining thewages and

economic prospects ofU.S.

workers.

Clear and unwavering in

his beliefs, Sessionsstuck by

that position Tuesday, decl ar-

ing that PresidentObama’s

executive order to protect

immigrants brought by their

parents into the country as

children withoutauthoriza-

tion fromdeportation is an

amnesty thatabrogates leg-

islati ve authority.While ac-

knowledging the need toad-

dress so-called Dreamers on

humanitarian grounds, Ses-

sions said that responsibility

lies with Congress.

Sessions disavowed a

Trump proposal to banMus-

lim immigration, saying there

could be no religious test for

any immigrant.He adde d,

howeve r, that religious beliefs

cannot be eliminated entirely

as a reason todeny admission

if a personclaims them as a

motive for murder.

He also defended his belief

that the landmarkRoe vs.

Wade Supreme Courtdecision

holding thatwomen have a

right to abortionwas wrong-

headed, but said hewould

abide by the law.

Democrats have no power

to filibuster the Sessions

nomination or any other

Trump nominees.Frustrated

by GOP intransigenceover

Obama’sappointees, Demo-

crats eliminated that tool in

2013 for all nominations ex-

cept the Supreme Court.

Upon taking office onJan.

20, Trump will beable to

nominate his pick to fill the

Supreme Courtvacancy left

open sinceFebruaryby the

death of Justice Antonin Sca-

lia, anchor of the court’s right

wing. SenateRepublicans

took the unprecedentedstep

of refusing to hold a hearing

on Obama nomineeMerrick

Garland. Democrats will soon

have to decide whether to

filibuster aTrump Supreme

Court nominee.

But if Democratsdeploy the

filibuster, theyrun the risk

that Republicans will remove

that weapon by changing the

rules, the so-called“nuclear

option,” leaving Democrats

helpless to block any future

Trump Supreme Court nomi-

nee.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San

Francisco Chronicle’s

Washington correspondent.

Email: clochhead@

sfchronicle.com Twitter:

@carolynlochhead

Feinstein girds for high court battle

Feinstei nfrom page A

ChipSomodevilla / GettyImages

Sen. Jeff Sessions,R-Ala., issworn inat the start of his confirmation hearingto be the U.S. atto rney general.