In February 2009 the State Legislature narrowly passed the 2008–2009 state budget during a special session, months after it was due. As part of the plan to lower the state's annual deficits, the State Legislature ordered a special election with various budget reform ballot propositions, among them Proposition 1B.[1]
Proposition 1B would have mandated supplemental payments of $9.3 billion to schools and community colleges. This figure was the difference between the amount actually appropriated in recent budgets, and the amount that, under some interpretations of Proposition 98, should have been spent. If approved by a popular vote majority, the measure would only have been enacted if Proposition 1A had also been approved.[1]
