In a 78 to zero vote, the California state assembly recently passed senate bill 735, a measure that if approved would restore over $112 million to the budget of California state community colleges.

Governor Gray Davis previously cut $126 million dollars from the 2001-2001 budgets of higher learning institutions in an effort to revive California’s failing economy.

This Bill would restore to this year’s budget $49 million for facility maintenance and repairs, $49 million for educational supplies, and $14.9 million in existing bond funds will also be designated for large scale one-time projects.

Cerritos college expects to recoup $1.1 million, $700,000 for instructional equipment and $450,000 for schedule maintenance projects.

“After the governor cut the funding from the community college budget I began a campaign promising that I would not rest until the legislature moved a measure this year to restore the funding,” said Robert Pacheco, California state assemblyman and the principle sponsor of Bill 735.

“Community colleges have been under-funded for over a decade and the restoration of these funds is important to the promise that we have made to our communities regarding access to a higher education.”

Pacheo was not the only person angered with the governor’s budget cut.

A survey taken by a consortium of community colleges showed that 86 percent of the people polled believe community colleges play a fundamental role in providing higher education to Californians and believe the finding cut by the governor should be restored.

“What is really unique about what’s happened is that people from the businesses and communities that are served by community colleges are really leading the charge as have legislators from both the House and the Assembly. From both Republicans and Democrats it is an across the board support for this,” Said Jane Harmon, president of Cerritos college.”

The governor has until midnight Oct. 14 to take action on SB 735. Harmon is confident that the bill will be approved.

” We are absolutely hopeful that the governor will reverse his mistake because that what it truly was, he did not understand what he was doing when he cut the budget, he was given bad information.”