With California state revenue exceeding expectation, Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use to use an unexpected $6.6 billion "to boost education spending and help repair California’s battered finances," notes the LA Times. more ›

It's been five years since the federal consent decree alleging Metro "violated civil rights by favoring rail over buses" was lifted, and "ambitious" plans are underway to make the system more efficient, reports the LA Times. more ›

California Governor Jerry Brown has been slowly peeling the band-aid off the "deep cuts" of his proposed state budget since he was sworn in last week. Brown released the budget today, which reflects a "painful spending plan affecting all aspects of state government," according to the Daily News. more ›

Metro has put forth a set of bus service changes and cuts that would affect passengers and drivers on 23 lines currently in operation. Before the service reductions would go into place, on June 26, 2011, the nine route cancellations and alterations to service on numerous other lines, Metro will hold a series of public hearings to discuss the changes. more ›

Metrolink's board is scheduled to hold meetings today during which they will discuss the removal of Chief Executive David Solow, as well as service reductions, according to LA Now. Solow has been the focus of much scrutiny and criticism since the deadly September 2008 Chatsworth crash. more ›

Yesterday, state park officials began announcing plans for budget-saving reductions that begin Sunday. Some parks, including ones in the L.A. area, would lose lifeguards and see fewer hours or days of operation. However, Angeles District Superintendent Ron Schafer is mum on the details of said cuts. "We're working on plans that might help us avoid service reductions all together," he said over the phone, noting details should come next week. Local parks will operate as normal until then and hopefully after. more ›

Looking a little further the controversial cuts to the fire department, which takes 87 firefighters off duty throughout the city on a rotating basis, here is the interactive map the fire department's union is using as an education and advocacy tool. The so-called "brown outs" change every weekend day and work week so no one station bears the brunt of cuts. Today, about 26 stations have lighter staffing, which is like three to four less people at each. More specifically, it equals out to ten less engines, five less ladder trucks and nine ambulances. more ›

A state legislator is suing the Governor over budget cuts and so is everyone else, it seems. Today, you can add AIDS Project Los Angeles to the list. They contend that Schwarzenegger went beyond his authority by cutting $85 million from HIV/AIDS programs. Citing the state's Legislative Counsel Bureau, the APLA says Schwarzenegger was only allowed to make budget cuts to original budget appropriations, not to a bill passed last February. “In exceeding his power, the governor has singlehandedly dismantled a critical array of programs that protect the health of all Californians -- programs that ultimately save the state from far more catastrophic spending,” APLA Director Craig E. Thompson said. “The effects will be nothing short of devastating.” Los Angeles County has the second largest AIDS epidemic in the country and 7,000 people statewide are estimated to become HIV positive. A rally will be held at Pershing Square in downtown tonight at 7 p.m. followed by a short march to the Reagan State Office Building on Spring Street. 2,000 demonstrators are expected. more ›

Some fire companies were closed Sunday indefinitely, but a rotating set of closures scheduled for tomorrow will lessen the number of ambulances and rescue trucks on Los Angeles city streets tomorrow as a money saving move amid the city's budget crisis. more ›

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signed California's budget today, making additional cuts to fill a $1.1 billion gap left by legislators in their approved package. An additional $6.2 million was cut from state parks after an $8 million cut was proposed last week. That makes a total of $14.2 million, a number the Schwarzenegger's office predicts "will result in the closure of probably more than 100 parks." more ›

As part of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's "shared sacrifice" plan to save the city budget, cuts proposed to fire department ladder and ambulance companies, nicknamed "brownouts," would short-staff stations on a rotating basis by 87 firefighters. more ›

With over a half billion in cuts, the California State University Board of Trustees voted to increase student fees by 20%, implement employee furloughs and workforce reductions, cut enrollment and other measures that were met with protest at today's meeting in Long Beach. more ›

A budget deal was agreed on last night between top legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Part of that deal was cutting $8 million from the state parks system, saving the majority of parks from the original proposal to cut around $70 million forcing the closure of 80% of them. more ›

Unionized employees of the University of California will rally today at UCLA in Westwood in protest against proposed cost-cutting measures that will see the, losing work hours and funds for operating costs, according to the Daily News. more ›

Thousands of teachers are still going to lose their job at the end of the month, but at least 500 of them are saved. "Many of the teachers who were at risk of losing their jobs, as well as their supporters, camped out overnight at LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A. to protest the proposed layoffs," says CBS2, who received the layoff information from LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines exclusively. more ›

Since Californians overwhelmingly rejected his propositions last week in the special election, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his latest budget plan detailing $5.5 billion in cuts from a deficit estimated to be $24.3 billion by July 1 (that's higher than the $21.3 billion that was touted in the last few weeks). more ›

Like last Friday, a number of students from Santee and Lincoln High Schools protested budget cuts and teacher layoffs this morning. They marched to the LAUSD headquarters in downtown where Superintendent Ray Cortines spoke to them, according to Cuts Hurt Kids on Twitter. Last week, students and teachers protested ending with a around 40 educators in jail. more ›

Governor Schwarzenegger, in one of his ideas to help fix the state's budget deficit projected to be $42 billion, is ready to eliminate thousands of state jobs and order two-day-a-month unpaid furloughs for other state workers starting in February. more ›

Among the $22 billion in proposed cuts by state Republicans today, close to half that, 10.6 billion, would be cut from K-12 schools and community colleges. "That would bring school funding to just about the minimum required by state law," the Sacramento Bee notes. more ›

Although yesterday brought the encouraging news of a service expansion for late-night weekend riders on the Red Line during the holiday season this year, this morning the news about MTA service overall is rather discouraging. more ›

Long Beach is facing a $16.9 million budget deficit and has proposed shutting down their downtown library. "Tell City Hall NO to the threatened closure! Long Beach residents and children deserve nothing less than access to a downtown library with ready access to books and programs to help them achieve their goals and aspirations," wrote author Ray Bradbury in a letter printed last week in the Press-Telegram. The LA Times takes a look at the controversy, including a group called Save Our Long Beach Public Library. more ›

Yesterday, parents his the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest decisions made by the Los Angeles Unified School District who denied space for charter schools, which are still public schools, but are run differently. The LA Times explains: more ›

Members of a Los Angeles City Council committee took 50 hours to deliberate, but finally put their stamp of approval on a $7 billion budget for the city. more ›

The MTA says it's time to cut the lines--20 bus lines, that is. more ›

Why do all these prisoners love our governor? Because in his budget cuts that were released today, it proposes just that -- an early release for 22,000 low-risk inmates. "The governor says the cuts are necessary to erase a $14 billion revenue shortfall over the next 18 months. Schwarzenegger's new budget would spend 3 percent less than the one he signed last summer," according to the AP. more ›

We all know with the budget shell game, money gets shifted, programs beget and programs get dropped. Another program on the cutting board of the proposed budget is the CERT training, otherwise known as the Community Emergency Response Team. This free training by the fire department is invaluable (we know). The fact of the matter is that when a huge earthquake comes and makes life much worse than 1994's quake, the city is not... more ›