Inland lawmakers and officials see both good and bad in the state budget proposal released by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, Jan. 10. <\/p>\n
Educators are happy the governor wants to steer more money to schools and universities, but court officials are not pleased with funding cuts, and one state legislator questions why theres no money listed for UC Riversides medical school. <\/p>\n
State Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, said he was very disappointed not to see specific funding identified for the medical school, where classes for the first group of 50 students are set to begin this fall. <\/p>\n
There is an immediate need for more doctors to provide critical health care services to our residents and to all of California, Roth said in a news release. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the California State Legislature and with Governor Brown to fully fund the UCR Medical School as the budget process now moves forward. <\/p>\n
Local officials have sought state money for the medical school since 2008. In 2011, officials delayed the first freshman class because of the lack of state funding, and the schools medical accreditation was in peril at one point. <\/p>\n
Last March, Brown said he wanted to hold off allocating state money for the school until California got its fiscal house in order. And although Brown bragged Thursday about the budget having a surplus for the first time in years thanks to voters earlier acceptance of his Prop. 30 tax proposal his spending plan did not specify any money for the medical school. <\/p>\n
That issue may be settled in the Legislature where Roth and Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, have introduced separate bills to provide the school $15 million a year in state funding. <\/p>\n
Browns proposal isnt a final draft and lawmakers can make changes between now and the June 15 deadline to pass a state budget. <\/p>\n
COURT CUTS <\/p>\n
The proposed budget calls for cutting another $200 million from the state court system, as local court officials had feared. <\/p>\n
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CALIFORNIA BUDGET: Where are UCR medical school funds?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inland lawmakers and officials see both good and bad in the state budget proposal released by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, Jan. 10 Continue reading