Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, talks with reporters in Sacramento about the tax measure she’s backing.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Wyatt Buchanan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sacramento –Supporters of two ballot initiatives that would raise taxes to fund public education and other services said on Monday they will not back down from those efforts, upending Gov. Jerry Brown’s crusade to clear the November ballot of any competing tax measures.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday.

Brown has been describing his temporary sales and income tax increases as necessary to protect schools and public safety. But a new report on school finance from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, makes it clear that even were Brown’s taxes to be increased, his budget would continue to reduce California’s per-pupil spending. Virtually all of the school money in the package would just pay schools what the state already owes them.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature settled on a hastily revised state budget last June – after Brown had vetoed legislators’ first version – and pronounced it to be balanced and timely.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 11:28 am

Gov. Jerry Brown has courted a coalition of business and labor groups to back his November initiative that would raise taxes on sales and upper incomes. Now, some on the left are lashing out at the governor’s plan, and his early donors, reaffirming their intent to place a competing tax measure on the ballot this fall.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets.

It gave the Legislature’s majority Democrats the power to pass budgets without having to garner Republican votes. But that’s not all it did.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 2, 2012

A “millionaires tax” initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

Gov. Jerry Brown is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his tax campaign from California Indian tribes at the same time many tribes are seeking to renegotiate lucrative gambling compacts with him.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown is scaling back the state’s highly controversial bullet train project to keep it alive.

Just three months ago, his administration unveiled – with great fanfare – a revised “business plan” for building the north-south bullet train system to answer the embryonic project’s many critics.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 31, 2012

Rural and urban school districts in California that make heavy use of buses appear safe — for now.

State lawmakers are fast-tracking legislation that would transform a $248 million midyear school bus cut into a general-purpose reduction that hits each K-12 district evenly. The Assembly Budget Committee passed Senate Bill 81 with bipartisan support Tuesday, while an aide to Gov. Jerry Brown testified that the governor supports the proposal.

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By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Would it be churlish to say that the much-ballyhooed Think Long Committee for California fell short on fortitude?

Or merely accurate?

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 29, 2012

The California Teachers Association officially agreed Sunday to back Gov. Jerry Brown’s multibillion-dollar tax plan, which should provide the governor hefty financial support for his fall campaign.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

When a political party achieves dominance of any government, one expects that it would use its hegemony to enact its public policy agenda.

That’s the way democracy is supposed to work.

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Gov. Jerry Brown pledges to cut spiraling costs, but key parts of his rollback plan apply mainly to future workers. Activists want quicker action.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
January 28, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— Gilbert Robles retired as a state parole agent at age 53, able to collect a $101,195 annual pension — 94% of his final salary. Last year, six months after he retired, the Arcadia resident accepted a political appointment with the same agency that pays an additional six figures.

Scott Hallabrin took retirement as the top attorney for the state’s ethics agency on June 29, 2009. The next day, he went back to the same post, as he prepared to watch his pension checks roll in on top of a salary.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 26, 2012 | 8:12 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged 1,500 Los Angeles political and business leaders to back his proposal for higher taxes and implored them to pressure lawmakers in Sacramento to overhaul the state’s pension system this year.

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Most of his appointments in the first year went to people who live in Northern California, but 20 Inland residents got posts

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 25 January 2012 09:45 PM

SACRAMENTO — As Gov. Jerry Brown put his stamp on California government in the past year, his appointments leaned heavily toward the state’s less-populated northern half.

Since taking office in January 2011, Brown had made almost 580 appointments to administration jobs and state boards and commissions through last week. Of those, two-thirds listed residences in 10 Northern California counties, with a third, 194, from Sacramento County alone. Almost 70 percent are Democrats.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown presents his proposed state budget, which needs tax hikes to balance. (Lezlie Sterling / MCT / January 5, 2012)

By Marc Lifsher
January 25, 2012, 10:43 a.m.

California’s combination of business, sales, income and other taxes ranks it close to the bottom of the 50 states for being business-friendly, according to an index put out by a conservative Washington think tank.

California placed 48th, ahead of only New York at 49th place and New Jersey at 50th, said a report released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 25, 2012

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown claimed widespread business support for his ballot initiative to raise taxes – including donations from big healthcare and oil companies – the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business urged business groups this afternoon to resist any effort by Brown to “cajole” them.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 24, 2012

California voters like Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea of making high earners pay more taxes, but otherwise are of mixed minds about solving the state’s chronic budget woes, according to the Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll on the topic.

Here are a few findings from the poll, released today:

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state budget contains hundreds of specific provisions but none is bigger, more complicated, more politicized, more emotional – or more important – than the 30 or so billion dollars that it spends on K-12 education.

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Dan Walters

Published: Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Whenever someone suggests that California’s public employee pension systems need reform, civil service unions react dismissively, often with attacks on the credentials or even the morals of critics.

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George Skelton

By George Skelton, Capitol Journal
January 23, 2012

It’s the norm in January: After the governor proposes a new budget and delivers his State of the State address, legislators slide into hibernation until spring.

Oh, there’s some rustling around in the dens — a few committee hearings, brief floor sessions — but no strenuous activity, no risk taking until May, when deadlines sprout and the governor revises his budget proposal.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 9:59 am

“My father built the water plan. I want to complete it. So, whether it’s high-speed rail or water or education or public safety, I’m going to invest and build for the future, not steal from it.” GOV. JERRY BROWN, son of former Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown

Before leaving Southern California last week, after urging greater infrastructure spending in a “land of dreams,” Gov. Jerry Brown recalled how long he has made that case and how wary of his ideas people can be.

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Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to finally fix California’s finances relies on several dubious assumptions, including that voters approve his proposal to raise taxes in November and that the revenue from those come in at the level the administration projects.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Jerry Brown evidently does not want to join the nascent movement to overhaul – perhaps radically – California’s dysfunctional political structure.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 – 12:13 am

SAN DIEGO – Gov. Jerry Brown, campaigning for higher taxes and infrastructure spending in the state’s more conservative reaches Thursday, claimed widespread business support for his tax plan and suggested dire consequences should it fail.

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By Michael J. Mishak and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
January 19, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento — After years of economic pain and deep budget cuts, Gov. Jerry Brown declared California to be “on the mend,” saying the state is emerging from financial turmoil and proclaiming his dedication to a string of ambitious public projects.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown talks about his budget during a press conference in Sacramento. (Lezlie Sterling//MCT / January 5, 2012)

NEWS ANALYSIS

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
January 18, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento— In his State of the State address in Sacramento on Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to attempt a risky balancing act: reconciling his well-crafted image as a penny pincher with one he aspires to as a builder in the mold of his father, former Gov. Pat Brown.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 17, 2012

Republican legislative leaders rolled out their response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s 2012 State of the State address Tuesday, slamming the Democratic governor for telling Californians that the”sky will fall” without higher taxes.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 16, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown is taking a mulligan, tripped up by a typographical error and forced to re-file his ballot initiative to raise taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 16, 2012 | 4:47 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t plan to waste any time selling his vision for California this year.

Hours after his State of the State speech Wednesday morning in Sacramento, he’s scheduled to be in Los Angeles to speak at City Hall. Then he’ll be in a private meeting with teachers at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jan. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

As unemployed Californians struggle to find work, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed strict rules for parents on welfare: Get a job in two years or lose nearly half of cash aid along with training and child care.

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Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, January 15, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut state prison spending next fiscal year for the first time in nearly a decade, a departure from the goals of recent administrations, which consistently increased corrections spending and pushed for prison expansion.

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With the $100-billion project at a critical juncture, the governor puts his people in key positions.

By Ralph Vartabedian and Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
January 14, 2012

A surprise shake-up of senior leaders at California’s bullet-train agency this week was partly Gov. Jerry Brown’s response to a growing crisis of confidence and credibility in recent months that has threatened the political viability of the project.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 12, 2012 | 5:41 pm

Republican state senators say Gov. Jerry Brown is overstating the need for new tax hikes, according to an internal analysis.

The 61-page report, which examines Brown’s proposals from a Republican perspective, said state tax revenues will bounce back without the temporary taxes the governor wants.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

“Soak the rich” has a populist ring that resonates in a period of economic uncertainty, and making the rich pay their “fair share” of taxes has become a rallying cry for those on the political left with no small appeal to those in the middle.

Gov. Jerry Brown hopes to tap into that sentiment with a ballot measure that would increase everyone’s sales taxes a bit while hitting the very affluent with higher income taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
January 9, 2012 | 3:44 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure could bring in billions less than what the governor is counting on, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan state legislative analyst.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s new budget says that the state’s shaky finances are “exacerbated by an unprecedented level of debts, deferrals and budgetary obligations,” which he describes as “a wall of debt.”

However, California’s debt, much of it run up over the last decade, is more like a mountain, at least a Mount Whitney and perhaps a Mount Everest.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
January 9, 2012

Civil rights attorney Molly Munger has contributed $500,000 toward her tax initiative to raise $10 billion annually for education, the first significant cash backing a measure that competes with Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax proposal, according to a campaign statement posted today.

Read the rest of this entry »

Riverside’s downtown Greyhound bus station will have to wait longer to move to a planned transit center. The end of redevelopment has made the transit project’s future uncertain.(/FILE PHOTO/2008)

BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 07 January 2012 06:52 PM

Riverside may have to scrap plans for a downtown bus and train transit hub, a new shopping plaza in the Five Points area of La Sierra, relocation of two historic Victorian homes and a variety of other projects, now that state legislation and a court ruling have dismantled redevelopment.

Worse yet, say city officials, they may be forced to sell many of the properties owned by the city’s now-defunct redevelopment agency, including some on the Main Street mall, University Avenue, at Five Points, and in several areas downtown where new and better housing was planned.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget plan released last week poses a stark choice for Californians: approve a five-year $35 billion tax increase in November or watch the hatchet drop on public school funding – with cuts so deep the school year could be shortened by almost a month.

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By Michael B. Marois and James Nash – Jan 5, 2012 9:01 PM P

California (STOCA1) Governor Jerry Brown proposed a budget that would lop off the equivalent of three weeks from the public school year if voters reject his proposal for $7 billion in temporary tax increases.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Jan. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state Constitution requires governors to unveil their proposed budgets for the next fiscal year by Jan. 10.

Jerry Brown’s 2012-13 proposal was hastily released Thursday, five days before its scheduled delivery, after it inadvertently found its way onto a state website.

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The Legislature will consider unresolved budget and pension issues when members reconvene this week.

By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

January 2, 2012

Reporting from Sacramento—- When state lawmakers convene again Jan. 4, their plates will be filled with leftovers.

Their agenda is expected to be dominated by issues that have been unresolved in the last few years: state budget problems, pension reform, a new water supply system and legalizing poker on the Internet.

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California Gov. Jerry Brown talks about milestones and accomplishments from 2011 with reporters in his office at the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., December 27, 2011.

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Monday, January 2, 2012

Sacramento –In his first year back as California’s leader, Gov. Jerry Brown was unable to get what he wanted.

Voters returned Brown to the Capitol for a third term after he campaigned as a seasoned, no-nonsense veteran who knew how to get things done. But Brown didn’t anticipate how much Capitol politics had changed in his 28-year absence.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Monday, Jan. 2, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

A year from now, we Californians may look back on 2012 as one of those momentous years for politics.

Or not.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011 – 12:29 am

For 11 months Gov. Jerry Brown raised almost no money and conducted few political exercises outside the Capitol.

But in a spate of private meetings and fundraisers in recent weeks, his political apparatus stirred. Brown quietly raised more than $1.2 million in two weeks for his campaign to raise taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
December 30, 2011 | 1:13 pm

In just a couple of weeks, California Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to convince voters to raise taxes has raked in $1.2 million from deep-pocketed donors.

Read the rest of this entry »

Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 30, 2011

The California Supreme Court dealt a deathblow to the state’s 60-year-old redevelopment program, ruling Thursday that lawmakers had the authority to eliminate the economic development program and striking down a law that would have allowed the agencies to exist in smaller form.

The ruling was the worst-case scenario for cities, which argued they needed the program to spur economic development in blighted areas and create jobs – but it was a win for Gov. Jerry Brown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
December 29, 2011

In a significant budget win for Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday the state can eliminate the local agencies that subsidize construction in blighted areas.

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Debra J. Saunders

Debra J. Saunders
Thursday, December 29, 2011

“You don’t normally end on a triumphant note. You enter in triumph and you leave on tiptoe,” quoth Jerry Brown at a Tuesday press conference to sum up the first year of his second stint as California governor.

For one hour, Brown was highly quotable: “I’m a reformed reformer,” he offered. And: “Just because a bill is useless doesn’t mean I should veto it.”

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By Torey Van Oot
tvanoot@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

What to expect in 2012?

Jon Coupal is preparing for “nuclear war.”

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BY RICHARD K. De ATLEY
STAFF WRITER
rdeatley@pe.com

Published: 27 December 2011 05:41 PM

Riverside County got its first Latina judge Tuesday when Gov. Jerry Brown announced the appointment of Raquel A. Marquez to the bench.

Also named to judgeships by the governor were Riverside County Commissioner John W. Vineyard and Supervising District Attorney Otis Sterling III.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011 – 7:49 am

Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that he expects the first half of the new year to be dominated again by California’s budget problems, as he proposes more spending cuts and tries to clear the November ballot of tax measures that might compete with his.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gov. Jerry Brown outlines proposals to roll back public employee pension benefits during a news conference at the Capitol in October. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press / October 27, 2011)

News analysis

By Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2011

Reporting from Sacramento — In swing states across the country this year, an emboldened group of new Republican governors teamed with GOP legislatures to remake government from top to bottom.

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By Ed Mendel
Monday, December 26, 2011

Gov. Brown’s proposal to give new state and local government employees a hybrid retirement plan is part of a national trend, joined by Rhode Island last month and Utah last year.

A typical hybrid combines a smaller monthly pension, guaranteed for life, with a more risky and unpredictable 401(k)-style investment plan, whose value can rise and fall with the market.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
December 23, 2011

Responding to concerns by Gov. Jerry Brown, Democratic leaders and budget stakeholders, civil rights attorney Molly Munger today submitted a new version of her initiative to increase income taxes for California schools.

Read the rest of this entry »

GnanaDev

Friday, December 23, 2011 – 12:15 p.m.

From the press office for California Governor Jerry Brown.

Governor Brown Announces Appointments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Published: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 4A

California gambling tribes have given $275,000 toward Gov. Jerry Brown’s new 2012 ballot initiative to raise taxes on sales and the wealthy, the first known major contribution to his effort.The California Tribal Business Alliance and two of its member tribes have written checks to help Brown’s cause, said the group’s political director, David Quintana.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Electoral history in California tells us that if the ballot is cluttered with overlapping or competing measures, voters throw up their hands and reject them all. It’s an entirely rational response: After electing people to run the government, why should we have to do their job?

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Gov. Jerry Brown takes part in a news conference on the state budget Tuesday at the Capitol. Brown wants voters to approve tax increases worth $7 billion per year over the next five years.

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sunday, December 18, 2011

Sacramento –California’s dark days of budget deficits and severe spending cuts may be nearing an end.

Since the economic collapse in 2008, state leaders have seen a steep drop in tax revenue that had them jostling to keep public services intact in schools, universities, prisons and aid to the poor, disabled and sick. General fund spending has dropped by $17 billion since 2007 – from a high of nearly $103 billion – and the cuts continued as recently as last week when Gov. Jerry Brown announced another $1 billion reduction to programs serving California’s 37.5 million residents.

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California schools, libraries, prisons and disabled services will all be affected — with more to come, Gov. Jerry Brown warns.

By Anthony York and Teresa Watanabe
Los Angeles Times
December 14, 2011

Reporting from Sacramento and Los Angeles — Gov. Jerry Brown announced nearly $1 billion in new state budget cuts, slashing spending on higher education and eliminating funding for free school-bus service but avoiding the deeper reductions to public schools that many had feared.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

California’s public schools received a rare bit of good news Tuesday when Gov. Jerry Brown largely exempted them from automatic reductions in state aid, citing improvements in the economy.

However, Brown’s declaration that the economy is getting better and he doesn’t have to squeeze all automatic spending cut “triggers” also lessened the air of crisis and therefore complicated Brown’s efforts to persuade voters to raise taxes next year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Jerry Brown’s year one performance as governor has been satisfactory – but hardly stellar, according to the collective wisdom of California’s leading political consultants.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
December 12, 2011

A new poll shows 60 percent of California voters, weary of state spending cuts and unsettled by the prospect of more, are ready to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to raise taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Jerry Brown made a rare gubernatorial appearance this month before a joint legislative committee that was delving – with obvious reluctance – into whether California’s public employee pension benefits should be overhauled.

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Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, right, said a new Senate seat that includes Moreno Valley is “winnable” for Democrats./AP

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
Published: 11 December 2011 06:55 PM

Senate Democrats think they have a great chance at grabbing the redrawn Senate district that extends from Corona to Moreno Valley.

But first they have to find a candidate they can rally behind. Only a few weeks remain before candidates can start collecting signatures to get on the ballot; the candidate filing period formally opens Feb. 13.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 – 6:39 am

Next month, rural residents may struggle to find library books, and low-income families could lose subsidized child care.

Come February, public school districts may scour their calendars looking for days to shut their doors.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2011 06:20:09 PM PST

Area business leaders and Republican lawmakers are slamming a November ballot proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown to temporarily increase the state sales tax and raise taxes on the wealthy.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 10:50 am

A majority of California voters support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to dial back public employee pensions and a plurality think that state and local government retirements are “too generous,” according to a new Field Poll.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown has formally proposed a $7 billion a year increase in sales and income taxes to close the state’s chronic budget deficit.

Whether it will be the only tax increase on the November ballot is uncertain. Several others are in the works, and if they reach the ballot as well, voter confusion could doom all. But assuming that Brown’s stands alone, how would the campaign shape up?

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Tuesday, December 7, 2011

The only way Gov. Jerry Brown can win approval of his November initiative to raise $7 billion a year over the next five years is if he can convince other forces who are planning to qualify tax measures to drop their proposals and unite behind his. And even then, the odds are about 50-50.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 – 9:05 am

For all the questions about its management and cost, this much is clear about high-speed rail: Californians who authorized the project three years ago want a do-over, according to a new Field Poll, and by a wide margin they want to vote “no.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The governor, announcing a signature-gathering effort to place a measure to raise income and sales taxes on the November 2012 ballot, says he wants to avoid partisan gridlock in the Capitol.

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
December 5, 2011, 10:24 p.m.

Reporting from Sacramento— In what he called an end-run around Sacramento’s partisan gridlock, Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday unveiled his bid to raise taxes on high earners and boost the sales tax by a half-cent for the next five years.

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Cheryl Miller
The Recorder

December 5, 2011

SACRAMENTO — With 2011 nearing a close, California lawyers must be wondering which will arrive first: Gov. Jerry Brown’s first trial court appointments or Santa Claus.

Nearly a full year into his administration, Brown has named just one jurist — albeit a very high-profile one — to the bench: Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu. Meanwhile, vacancies in the superior and appellate courts have gone unfilled and totaled 62 at the end of October, the latest figure available from the Administrative Office of the Courts. The vacancy rate is nearing a two-year high.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Dec. 5, 2011 – 6:24 am

Gov. Jerry Brown’s public approval rating is still relatively high after almost a year in office, but it has slipped slightly, and the specter of additional spending cuts could erode it further, according to a new Field Poll.

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