SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will release his most political and anticipated document today: the state budget. In it, he will close a $14.8 billion hole - about one-fifth of the budget - while not raising taxes.

The budget, which will be released at 11 a.m., also parrots some of the legally or logistically questionable maneuvers used by Gov. Gray Davis last year, including the borrowing of $900 million for state-employee pensions.

Schwarzenegger last month said the $15 billion bond on the March ballot was the last time the state would borrow to balance the books. Davis had tried to borrow to pay for employee pensions but the courts threw out the plan.

For the most part, administration officials declined to discuss the budget in any detail until today's briefing, but some specifics have come out.

On Thursday, the administration touted a deal with educators that will mean public schools will receive $2 billion less next fiscal year than they should receive under the Proposition 98 school-funding guarantee.

Schools will still receive $2 billion more than they got this year, however. It was unclear whether the lost $2 billion will ever be repaid.

"Our children should always have first call on our treasury," Schwarzenegger said at a tour of a middle school Thursday. "But today, we have an enormous budget problem. That is why it was very important that we came to an agreement to protect education and at the same time help us with our budget crisis."

The administration would not call the act a "suspension" of Prop. 98 - considered a sacred cow in Sacramento. But Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, chairwoman of the education committee said, "That's ridiculous. It's a suspension. You can call a pig's nose a silk purse and it's still a pig's nose. I'm disappointed."

College students face higher fees

Based on the midyear cuts Schwarzenegger proposed in November, advocates for the poor are worried as well.

"It's extremely hard to balance the budget and maintain a level of services without a revenue (tax) increase," said independent budget analyst Jean Ross.

College students are bracing for even more hits, after taking fee increases last year of 40 percent or more. The most heavily affected in the latest round are expected to be graduate students, who are expected to see 40 percent increases in tuition at the University of California and California State University.

As promised in his State of the State address, the governor plans to raise undergraduate fees by no more than 10 percent - although that brings to 50 percent the total increase over the last two years.

Community college students probably will see their per-unit fees rise from $18 to $26. The fee was just $11 two years ago.

Sunshine Lawson, who was California State University, Fullerton's top graduate last year, is worried.

Lawson, who lost her sight after a gunshot wound to the head, is a single mother and full-time student.

This budget would not only hike any fees she would have to pay, but also potentially cut Department of Rehabilitation transportation funding that she has used to get to school and to the library.

Other probable cuts

Lawson said the state reimburses her $3.30 for each ride she uses on Dial-A-Ride. She worries that will now end, along with funding for her books and school supplies.

"I liked (Schwarzenegger) and I believed he was going to be a very compassionate governor," Lawson said. "But I am very upset that he is cutting services to the disabled. We are the people who fight the hardest to be productive citizens. Without the funding, we are not going to get the funding for the basic necessities that most Americans take for granted."

Here are some other probable elements of the budget, according to lawmakers and staff who were briefed by the administration Thursday:

A 10 percent cut for doctors who care for Medi-Cal patients. Davis tried to cut these rates by 5 percent last year but that was prevented by a Sacramento judge last month, who called the reduction "arbitrary."

Suspend gas-tax revenue from going to transportation and divert the money to other uses. This was done last year and has resulted in a moratorium on building highways since July 2003, said Joan Barucki, chief deputy director of the California Transportation Commission. On hold are $672 million in major highway projects, including $10 million in Orange County.

Require Medi-Cal recipients to pay a premium to receive such "optional" benefits as dental services, acupuncture, medical equipment and eyeglasses.