This paper traces the development of state and local funding mechanisms which support community college education in California. Part 1 considers the history of California community college finance, looking at California public education in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the development of the state's junior colleges from 1907 to the institution of the Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, the effects of the Master Plan, and the difficulties experienced by the community colleges in the 1960s and 1970s. Part 2 examines the finances of the community colleges after the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, describing the financial condition of the system in the post-Proposition 13 period, the enactment of a state financial assistance program to "bailout" the community colleges, and the effects of the 1979 Gann Initiative Amendment, which set a limit on state expenditures equal to the level received in the 1978-79 base years with only small annual adjustments for inflation and population changes. Part 3 focuses on issues currently being considered by the Commission for the Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education pertaining to governance, funding, faculty tenure, and collective bargaining. This section highlights concerns about the erosion of the administrative and governing power of community college district boards; the modification of the current formula for funding and revenue allocation; the implementation of full-time equivalency as a finance mechanism or formula; and modifications in current laws concerning collective bargaining and faculty tenure. (RO)