By Dan Walters
The political infighting over the next state budget began Sunday night, just minutes after the Legislature passed one that would spend $156.4 billion – $200 billion-plus when federal funds are included – in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Raising California Together, a coalition of organizations pushing for universal child care and pre-kindergarten services, issued a statement thanking the Legislature for a quarter-billion-dollar increase in “early learning” but quickly added, “it is only a first baby step…”