SACRAMENTO — As California's economy improves and unanticipated cash flows into state coffers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to reverse some of the sharp budget reductions he has proposed in transportation and education spending -- actions that drove unions and other groups to organize against him.
Administration officials, lawmakers and advocacy groups say the revised budget that the governor is scheduled to unveil Friday will probably have hundreds of millions of dollars in added spending to help repair crumbling roads and jump-start other transportation projects delayed by state cuts in recent years.
They say the governor will also move to increase the pay for teachers in low-performing and dangerous schools.
Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said restoring as much of the $1.3 billion in transportation money the governor had initially proposed to cut is the administration's top priority for the new revenue.
"Tapping into transportation spending is one of the difficult choices the governor had to make to come up with a plan to close the state's budget gap," he said. "To the extent we have additional revenues, we want to see what we can do to put some of that money back."
The news comes as transportation officials warned that dozens of stalled road projects are in danger of being canceled altogether. Palmer would not specify exact amounts, but transportation groups say the administration has signaled to them it would be at least $500 million to $700 million -- enough to keep the projects already in the pipeline on track.
"We are hearing some pretty optimistic things," said Jim Earp, executive director of the Alliance for California Jobs, an umbrella group that represents labor unions and contractors involved with transportation projects. He said the money is sorely needed.
"The state basically hasn't funded a new project since June of 2003," Earp said. "That is a very long time."
The extra revenues are a welcome break for the governor, whose administration has suffered a number of setbacks in recent months and whose approval ratings have fallen significantly amid an assault of television advertisements from teachers and other unions angered by his cuts and proposed ballot initiatives.
