Attorney Molly Munger

Marisa Lagos
Published 9:04 p.m., Friday, August 3, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown added a cool $1 million to his already significant war chest this week in support of a November tax hike – and, not to be outdone, the wealthy supporter of a rival tax measure threw another $5 million behind her tax measure recently.

That brings Molly Munger’s total contribution to her initiative to raise income taxes on all but the poorest Californians to a staggering $13.7 million – though her campaign has been burning through cash far faster than Brown, who has raised more than $8 million this year. The governor’s measure, which would expire after five years, would raise income taxes on the wealthiest residents and hike sales taxes for everyone.

Munger’s campaign spent more than $8 million between January and the end of June, compared with Brown’s $2.4 million. Then again, polls show that Munger has a much steeper hill to climb to persuade voters to support her measure.

Brown received the healthy $1 million contribution Thursday from the California Nurses Association, which pledged to fight even harder for the tax measure than it did for Brown’s election two years ago.

“I’m gonna raise as much as I can,” the governor said after being presented with the check. “I don’t want to set a mark. We know generally these campaigns are very expensive, and I will raise as much as I possibly can.”

Standing behind state parks: Not everyone has cold feet in the wake of a scandal over $54 million in hidden funds at the state agency that oversees those open spaces.

The San Mateo Coast Natural History Association announced an agreement this week with the state Department of Parks and Recreation to keep Gray Whale Cove State Beach open for at least a year, saying it believes in the local park staff and wants to keep the “beautiful” beach open now.

To read entire story, click here.