SACRAMENTO — When the California State Parks Foundation staged a statehouse rally last week to decry proposed budget cuts that would result in the closing of 48 state parks, organizers brought with them a number of props, including a camping tent pitched on the Capitol lawn.

Had they left it up, they surely could have rented it out in the weeks to come.

It’s springtime in Sacramento, and that means it is the season of rallies, protests and citizen lobbying by interest groups of every stripe. As lawmakers struggle with how to close a $9 billion budget gap and grapple with a budget proposal from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would slash funding for nearly every state program, a bumper crop of rallies is blossoming in the spring of 2008.

The universal message: Don’t cut us.

“Never before have California’s state parks been under such assault,” foundation president Elizabeth Goldstein told about 300 supporters who gathered Monday at the Capitol steps.

A day later, child care advocates showed up en masse for a news conference and budget hearing to protest a proposed $198 million cut in subsidized child care for working mothers, a reduction that would eliminate 18,000 slots at a time when 200,000 children statewide are already on a waiting list for services.

“Why we are going backwards is beyond any of us,” said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now.

Flunk the budget
Larger events are still to come. A Day of Action is planned for April 21, organized by student leaders at community colleges, California State University and the University of California.

It is, said Dina Cervantes, chair of the California State Student Association, “the day no student should be silent in the face of $5.3 billion in cuts to education.”

Also warming up is the largest and most vocal group of budget-protection advocates: those representing K-12 education, which is potentially facing the first year-to-year cut in per-pupil spending in a generation.

The California Teachers Association launched a statewide Cuts Hurt bus tour in Inglewood on Monday, a tour that will culminate May 20 at the Capitol. Local PTA chapters have been staging Flunk the Budget Fridays at the district offices of legislators and will collectively gather for an April 24 rally in Sacramento. That rally will be followed by a Super Flunk the Budget Friday, on which they plan to follow their legislators home for district-level events the following day.

“It gets the message out: Flunk the budget, not our kids,” said state PTA spokeswoman Lindsay Shoemaker. “The more people who know, the better we get our message out to the 120 people who count.”

The Legislature is made up of an 80-member Assembly and a 40-member Senate.

Governor’s road shows
Professionals who advise these advocacy groups say large rallies at the Capitol can generate a one-day splash of news coverage but are expensive to plan and carry out.

Local events in the districts of individual lawmakers may have a more lasting and powerful effect, said Robin Swanson, who advises the Education Coalition.

“Parents and teachers are most effective at the local level,” Swanson said. “Legislators do pay attention when there are events at the local level. That’s when they perk up.”

District PTA President Patti Yomantas of Thousand Oaks reports Ventura County groups are taking that advice to heart. School advocates in Camarillo plan town hall meetings on education budget issues on Monday at El Descanso School and Wednesday at La Mariposa School. The Ventura Education Partnership will stage A Rally for Our Children on Friday afternoon at Buena High School.

In a sense, Schwarzenegger has taken the same tactic as the critics of his budget proposals. During the last several weeks, the governor has staged road shows in mid-sized California cities such as Modesto and Eureka to promote his proposals for budget reform.

“He’s very sympathetic to these groups,” said the governor’s press secretary, Aaron McLear. “He doesn’t want those cuts any more than they do. That’s exactly why he’s focusing on reforming the budget process: to give those groups some stability.”

Revenue-raising ideas
While each of the advocacy groups argues its interest should be given a higher priority rather than be subjected to Schwarzenegger’s proposed across-the-board 10 percent cuts, there is also a largely unspoken subtext to the message: Raise revenues, rather than balance the budget solely through spending cuts.

Schwarzenegger has hinted he will consider revenue-raising ideas short of a general tax increase. He has invited lawmakers to bring all their ideas into budget negotiations.

“You cannot begin a negotiation by saying, Please come to the table, but don’t bring all your ideas,’” McLear said.

Democrats who control the Legislature advise advocates to focus their energies at persuading Republican legislators to abandon their pledges to oppose all revenue-raising proposals, including the closing of tax loopholes.

“Our advice to these groups is to keep on keepin’ on,” said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, D-Los Angeles. “Ultimately, elected officials are accountable to the people who sent them to office. Believe it or not, legislators still feel the heat.”

Children Now’s Lempert, a former Democratic lawmaker, said advocates must make their case to legislators of both parties. “We need to fortify the resolve of the people who are with us,” he said. “People give in too often. It’s critical to have champions who will fight and fight and fight to make sure that those who provide lip service do not give in.”

Advice to advocates
Regular features in the springtime at Capitol rallies are speeches to the masses from legislators who proclaim their support for the cause of the day.

At Monday’s Save Our State Parks rally, Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria told those in the crowd he was on their side.

“Never did I think we would be focused on closing parks, especially, in my district, a California mission. For the life of me, I don’t understand it.”

Maldonado’s advice to the assembled advocates: “Keep doing what you’re doing.”