Proposition 30, which ensures immediate funding for higher education, has passed with 53.9 percent of votes in favor of the bill, according to the statewide results of ballot measures.

Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed tax initiative will raise an estimated $6 billion a year in state revenue through a four-year, quarter-cent sales tax increase and a seven-year tax increase on the income of those who make more than $250,000 a year.

Peter Haslund, president of the City College Board of Trustees, was very pleased with the outcome of the vote. Earlier this semester he authored a motion for the board to publically support the proposition, as well as writing a favorable editorial that was published in the Santa Barbara News-Press.

“There’s a general recognition by the citizens of the state of California that education is a huge and valuable contributor to what we’re about,” Haslund said. “We can now reinstate sections that we had slated for being cut, and that’s going to affect our students in terms of their own sense of progress, moving through our education process and moving on to their next academic objective.”

Prior to the election, the college administration was forced to plan future semesters for a worst-case scenario where Prop. 30 did not pass, resulting in department budgets that reflected massive cuts. These cuts would include over 200 sections and more than 1000 student in enrollment, as well as a reduction in on-campus student jobs, critical support staff and student support services.

Now that the proposal has passed, faculty and students can finally expect an end to the ongoing cuts.

“Some things that we were contemplating doing won’t have to be done,” Haslund said. “And secondly, there will be an effort to reinstate things that we feared we had to [cut].

“It’s going to be a little easier to the tune of about 4.6 million dollars.”

Prop. 30 was losing by more than one percent as early results were coming in, but quickly regained its support as the majority of statewide votes were counted. With 4,959,206 votes in favor and 4,241,246 against, Prop. 30 won by a striking margin of 7.8 percent, as all votes had been counted.

Proposition 38, a conflicting tax initiative led by Molly Munger, lost by a landslide with only 27.7 percent of voters in favor. While Prop. 30 is estimated to generate annual revenues of about $6 billion aimed at education across the board, Prop. 38 would’ve raised an estimated $10 billion, but only for K-12 education.

Republican representative Mike Stoker, who lost to Hannah-Beth Jackson in the race for the 19th District State Senate Seat, attended the Republican Election Party, held yesterday in the Butler Event Center on upper State Street.

“People who claim that they care about education shouldn’t be saying ‘pass Prop. 30 or we’re going to take money from schools’,” he said while votes were still being counted.

As an alternative to the tax initiative, Stoker suggested dismissing one quarter of all state employees and directing the ensuing savings to schools in need.

“Under my approach, schools under Prop. 30, if it doesn’t pass, don’t lose one penny,” he said.

This story was last updated at 10:21 a.m., Friday, Nov.9.