Wyatt Buchanan
Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Sacramento — California’s public schools could see as much as a month of classroom time slashed from the calendar if voters reject a plan to raise taxes in November.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed giving school districts the option of cutting up to 15 days from the school year if voters reject his proposed income and sales tax initiative. The significantly shortened year would help offset a multibillion-dollar automatic midyear cut that would be implemented upon rejection of the taxes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

As the state budget’s deficit widens, Gov. Jerry Brown is being thrust into a three-front political battle.

He must not only persuade voters to pass his sales and income tax package, but, implicitly, persuade them to reject a rival tax measure just for schools.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

One week after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed slicing state workers’ pay by 5 percent, the Democratic governor and legislators find themselves targeted for a “share the pain” salary cut.

Members of California’s Citizens Compensation Commission said Monday that a pay-cut proposal for statewide officeholders will be on the table when the panel meets May 31.

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Wyatt Buchanan
Monday, May 21, 2012

Sacramento– Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget proposal attempts to close a formidable $15.7 billion deficit, but the real debate at the Capitol in the next few weeks probably will be over how to cut just a fraction of the big amount.

That’s because about $2 billion in the governor’s budget represents permanent reductions in spending on state welfare, child care and other programs that Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly have pledged to protect.

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By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 20, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 20, 2012 – 8:30 am

Legislative Democrats aren’t organizing a bake sale just yet, but they say they will desperately search for cash in the coming weeks to avoid the most severe cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Saying the state’s budget deficit has risen from $9.2 billion to $15.7 billion, the Democratic governor has proposed more cuts to programs that serve the state’s poorest residents.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times
May 19, 2012

SACRAMENTO — California’s budget deficit may be more than $1 billion larger than even Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest estimate, the Legislature’s financial advisor said Friday.

Brown announced last weekend that the deficit had swelled from $9.2 billion to almost $16 billion. But the nonpartisan legislative analyst’s office said there may be less money available than the governor assumed, possibly increasing the budget gap to at least $17 billion.

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By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 19, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

The pile-on was in full effect within hours of Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement this week that California’s budget deficit had grown to $15.7 billion, with The Week giving its national audience a summary of the Golden State’s financial affairs.

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By Ed Mendel
Thursday, May 17, 2012

The CalPERS board yesterday raised the annual state payment for state worker pensions $213 million to a total of $3.7 billion, rejecting Gov. Brown’s request for a bigger increase to avoid a “loan” costing “$145.9 million over the next 20 years.”

Unions asked the board to spread out higher pension costs mainly caused by a lower investment earnings forecast. Paying part of the new rate over two decades, instead of the full amount now, makes an extra $149 million available for worker pay and other programs next fiscal year.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 6:26 am

One day after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed sweeping changes to state government work schedules, many employees were still deciphering what it means for them.

Brown wants to move most of California’s 214,000 workers to four-day workweeks and 9.5-hour shifts starting July 1. The change would reduce state workers’ hours and pay by 5 percent each month and cut state payroll by about $839 million, $401 million of it from the deficit-ridden general fund. Many departments would be closed on Fridays, some on Mondays.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Poker players often use the phrase “betting on the come” to describe a willingness, if instincts and odds indicate, to wager big on the hope that they will draw winning cards.

That’s a perfectly valid tactic when one is playing with one’s own money and therefore bearing the risk.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Judy Lin, Associated Press Writer
Posted: 05/15/2012 09:21:09 PM PDT
Updated: 05/15/2012 09:22:38 PM PDT

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Jerry Brown is pleading with Californians to raise their taxes as part of his solution for solving the state’s budget deficit, but it’s uncertain whether voters will be in an accepting mood come November.

Polls show voters want more money for schools but don’t want to tax themselves to pay for it. They continue to be pessimistic about the economy in a state with one of the highest jobless rates in the nation. And they distrust the Legislature, which oversees the budget.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Watching the sad spectacle of Governor Gandalf yet again expounding on California’s budget horrors Monday was like going to see one of those dreadful, anemic sequels to a long-ago tapped-out blockbuster franchise.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 04:50 p.m.

Here is some news reverberating across the transom this week.

Brown wants portion of Harris foreclosure settlement

You gotta love it.

California Governor Jerry Brown, in an effort to cobble together more money to blow, wants to steal hundreds of millions of dollars meant to help distressed homeowners. The dough, a part of a national foreclosure settlement obtained by Attorney General Kamala Harris, is meant for distressed homeowners.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 – 08:30 a.m.

Was it the plan all along or just plain incompetence?

Governor Jerry Brown’s screwing over of the California budget that is.

Read the rest of this entry »

California Governor Jerry Brown

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 6:17 am

Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that the state budget deficit had grown by a remarkable 70 percent since January, but fiscal experts said the economy had little to do with it.

They instead blamed a bad marriage of volatile capital gains and political intransigence that led state leaders last year to count on a huge upswing in revenues that never materialized. At the same time, corporate tax changes from 2009 appear to have cost California more than state officials ever realized.

Read the rest of this entry »

May 14th, 2012, 8:18 am
Posted by BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento Correspondent

UPDATED: 2:45 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday implored voters to approve his tax proposal as he presented a revised budget plan to address a deficit that has ballooned to $16 billion.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Tuesday, May. 15, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Just a few months ago, Gov. Jerry Brown chastised “declinists” and “dystopian journalists” for their pessimism about California, particularly about emerging from a deep recession.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in
May 13, 2012 | 2:01 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement that the state’s deficit has swelled to $16 billion (from a $9.2-billion estimate in January) means that a new array of budget cuts are likely.

But where to cut?

Read the rest of this entry »

California Governor Jerry Brown (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, May. 13, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, May. 13, 2012 – 10:48 am

In a gloomy preview of his May budget release, Gov. Jerry Brown said Saturday that California’s deficit has mushroomed to $16 billion, nearly $7 billion higher than he last estimated.

The Democratic governor blamed a slow economic recovery, as well as federal judges and administrators who blocked cuts to health care for the poor. Brown had previously pegged the deficit at $9.2 billion.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 11 May 2012 10:04 PM

Michael Fine, Riverside Unified School District’s deputy superintendent for business services, can tick off the hard numbers of what four years of recession-era state budgets have meant for his 42,000-student district.

The district has lost $110 million and confronts an annual $20 million gap between revenue and spending. The school year, which spanned 180 instructional days before the recession, is now 176 days.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders and Torey Van Oot
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 11, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

In one choreographed appearance at the office of the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters, Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to raise taxes appeared on Friday to take shape.

A week after announcing he had collected enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot, Brown – accompanied by a new political consultant, the first lady and his dog – turned several boxes of them in.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
May 11, 2012

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown warned Californians on Thursday to brace for another round of difficult budget cuts as he hand-delivered boxes of petitions to election officials requesting that his proposed tax hike be placed on the November ballot.

Brown, who is expected to unveil his revised budget proposal Monday, said he needed far more than the $4.2 billion in spending reductions he asked for in January. And he continued to raise the specter of even deeper wounds to public schools, colleges and other state services if his bid for tax hikes fails.

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By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, May. 10, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Thursday, May. 10, 2012 – 7:29 am

State workers’ pay is back on the budget chopping block.

Officials representing Gov. Jerry Brown met with state employee union leaders last week and delivered the news: A budget revision he’ll release Monday includes a new proposal to cut payroll costs in the upcoming fiscal year.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Monday, May. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Let’s get ready to rumble.

In this corner is California Gov. Jerry Brown.

In that corner is Molly Munger, a very wealthy civil rights attorney.

Brown and his union allies want voters to raise their own sales taxes, plus income taxes on the most affluent, to narrow a chronic budget gap.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, May 6, 2012 – 10:30 a.m

Ramos struggles through final candidate forum.

Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman and San Bernardino County Board of Supe’s candidate James Ramos showed up for the final candidate forum held at Copper Mountain College on Friday night.

Nothing changed.

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California Governor Jerry Brown says”Suck it in.” (Photo: AP)

By Kevin Yamamura and David Siders
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, May. 4, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

After years of being labeled the “Party of No” by majority Democrats, California Republican leaders stood under rainy skies Thursday outside the Capitol to dub themselves the “Party of Yes.”

The newly christened party kicked off its campaign by asking for a “no” vote on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax hike.

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12:06 AM, May 3, 2012
Written by John Myers

Supporters of Governor Jerry Brown’s tax increase initiative believe they’ve got the signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot, less than seven weeks after hitting the streets.

The initiative to temporarily raise income taxes on the most wealthy and sales taxes on everyone wrapped up its paid signature gathering on Wednesday, according to Democratic political consultant Gale Kaufman, a top advisor to the campaign.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, May. 2, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Thousands of California teachers were given layoff notices a few weeks ago because state law requires the slips to be sent out each spring if administrators and trustees believe cuts are needed to balance their budgets.

Later this month, the districts must decide whether to continue or rescind those layoffs on the assumption that by then they’ll know the state of their 2012-13 finances.

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

Four months into his second year in office – still with major parts of his agenda unfulfilled – Gov. Jerry Brown this morning tried a little expectation control.

Asked by Bob Schieffer on the CBS public affairs show “Face the Nation” for any advice he might have for politicians, Brown said, “I’ve learned you don’t get things done overnight. It does take time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, April 29, 2012 – 09:30 a.m.

Here’s some interesting factoids from across the financial and political transom:

First Quarter GDP Revised Lower

First quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was revised lower last week to 2.2%. The revised number was mainly supported by strong auto sales. A component that may not be sustainable looking ahead.

Why? Consumer spending has been outpacing non-existent wage growth.

Read the rest of this entry »

Munger

BY JEFF HORSEMAN
STAFF WRITER
jhorseman@pe.com

Published: 28 April 2012 07:31 PM
A Text Size

The woman behind a state ballot measure that would raise income taxes to boost public school funding told Inland Democrats on Saturday that her initiative would do more for children than a competing tax plan offered by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Apr. 29, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

One hears a lot of noise these days in and out of the Capitol about “the 1 percent” – those at the top of the income pecking order – and the moral imperative to levy higher taxes on them to support public services.

The narrative from left-wing activists and their political allies is that those at the top have rapaciously gathered more wealth while the poor get poorer and those in the middle class struggle to keep afloat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Buchanan
Saturday, April 28, 2012

One of the biggest mysteries at the Capitol these days is whether lawmakers are really going to make any substantive changes in the pension system for public employees.

This week didn’t do much to answer that, even though there were hearings on bills that were taken word-for-word from proposals Gov. Jerry Brown had sent to the Legislature. The apparent problem? Republicans introduced the bills.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

With state revenues slowing to a trickle as the end of April draws near, the state’s top fiscal analyst said late Wednesday that California could be “a few billion dollars” shy of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget projections through June 2013.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

California voters are inclined to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s sales and income tax increase, but by a less than overwhelming margin, a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California has found.

Read the rest of this entry »

The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
April 24, 2012

A key legislative committee isn’t going to act on a package of public pension reforms proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown and adopted by Republicans in their own bills.

Read the rest of this entry »

BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com

Published: 22 April 2012 08:12 PM

SACRAMENTO — Throughout much of the past decade, California’s Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund has been a rare revenue bright spot for Riverside County.

Created by the agreements that legalized gambling on tribal lands, the fund has fostered grants to pay for police officers, medical services and other expenses to offset traffic and other consequences of having casinos nearby.

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By JUDY LIN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:05 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:05 a.m.

SACRAMENTO — It’s been six months since Gov. Jerry Brown put forward his proposals to make the public pension system more affordable, yet action on his 12-point plan has been nearly imperceptible.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Apr. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

With the state budget mired in deficits, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators, especially his fellow Democrats, are searching under every fiscal rock for money to spend.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Gov. Jerry Brown said this afternoon that the state budget deficit could be $1 billion or more greater than the $9.2 billion he previously thought.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Despite lowering the proposed cost of California’s high-speed rail project to $68 billion, the Brown administration still relies on “highly speculative” funding for the project, the Legislative Analyst’s Office said in a report today recommending that construction funding not be approved.

The nonpartisan LAO did recommend that the Legislature approve minimal funding to continue planning for the project.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Molly Munger, the wealthy tax proponent whose initiative has frustrated Gov. Jerry Brown, has launched a second ad portraying her measure as an outsider effort.

With upbeat music and a young girl as narrator, the 30-second “Our Children, Our Future” ad attacks Brown’s plan without ever referencing it. Munger’s initiative would hike income taxes on all but the poorest residents along a sliding scale to raise $10 billion annually.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Two years ago, when Jerry Brown was trying to reclaim the governorship he had left 28 years earlier, he often said that his age, maturity and lack of political ambition would allow him to succeed where others had failed.

Brown said he would patiently attack the state’s political issues, especially the deficit-ridden state budget, and “I will tell the truth in ways (that hadn’t occurred) in years past.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Apr. 15, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Sunday, Apr. 15, 2012 – 8:33 am

Over the coming months of gestation about taxation, California voters will be inundated with claims, counterclaims and other forms of propaganda.

We still don’t know how many major tax proposals will be on the November ballot. It’ll be at least one, but whether it’s the one that Jerry Brown, other Democratic politicians and labor unions want, or the one that civil rights attorney Molly Munger and the PTA want, is still unknown.

Most likely, it’ll be both.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The Capitol is preoccupied with Gov. Jerry Brown’s efforts to persuade voters to raise taxes and the complicating effects of a rival tax measure sponsored by civil rights attorney Molly Munger.

With deadlines looming, will Brown and his union allies collect enough signatures to place their measure on the June ballot? Will Munger cave in to pressure from Brown, et al., to back off? If both are on the ballot, would it doom both?

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 10, 2012

As state leaders hope for a surprise uptick in revenues this spring, state Controller John Chiang reported Tuesday that California lagged last month by $233.5 million, or 4.2 percent.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Less than a week after Gov. Jerry Brown started using robotic telephone calls and mailers to gather signatures for his ballot initiative to raise taxes, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association plans to launch its anti-tax campaign today on the conservative “John and Ken” talk radio show.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Apr. 9, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

When the state’s bullet train impresarios unveiled a much-revised plan for the statewide project last fall – with campaign-style hoopla, one should note – they said it settled all of its outstanding questions and doubts.

Not by a long shot.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Apr. 9, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Apr. 9, 2012 – 7:02 am

California state government hired 25 percent fewer employees last year, according to new payroll figures, although departments still added thousands of workers while squeezing their budgets during the economic downturn.

Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown imposed a hiring freeze shortly after entering office last year, but allowed exemptions under certain conditions. The governor lifted the freeze as departments came up with alternative ways to cut their budgets.

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PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
April 4, 2012 | 3:59 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown is no longer collecting signatures for his original tax hike ballot proposal, confident that a compromise unveiled late last month will get enough signatures to meet a tight deadline to be placed on the November ballot, his top political advisor announced Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press
Saturday, March 31, 2012

(03-31) 14:46 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) –

The agency overseeing California’s high-speed rail project has issued a back-to-the-drawing-board business plan that dramatically lowers the system’s estimated cost and expands its initial phase, but critics say it still remains too costly and does not deliver what voters intended.

Read the rest of this entry »

March 29th, 2012, 11:39 am
Posted by BRIAN JOSEPH, Sacramento Correspondent

Republican leaders in the state Legislature unveiled Thursday a $4.4 billion package of alternate budget proposals they say would eliminate the necessity for trigger cuts to education in the event voters don’t approve Gov. Jerry Brown‘s tax measure in November.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Tuesday, Mar. 27, 2012 – 7:28 am

In a show of good faith one year ago, legislative Democrats slashed Medi-Cal, cut universities and reduced welfare grants to slice the state deficit 13 weeks before the constitutional deadline.

But this year Democrats are refusing to go along with Gov. Jerry Brown’s most controversial reductions, spurning his demand to have cuts in place by March.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 26, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Mar. 26, 2012 – 6:33 am

California’s great public pension battles are heating up, and may be headed for some kind of political explosion.

The Legislature’s Democratic majority appears to be doing its best to ignore significant pension reform, even though Gov. Jerry Brown says the current system is “unsustainable” and an overhaul is needed to persuade voters to raise taxes this year.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Mar. 24, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A

GOLETA – Last summer, Gov. Jerry Brown flew to Blythe, in the California desert, to break ground on the largest solar power project in the world.

There, in a tent near the Arizona border, Uwe T. Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer of developer Solar Trust of America, proclaimed the “dawn of a new era,” and Brown, who has tied his job-creation effort inextricably to renewable energy, said “This is really big.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Mar. 23, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Friday, Mar. 23, 2012 – 7:53 am

Its popularity has declined sharply, many of its details have yet to emerge, and independent authorities have questioned its financial and operational viability, but California’s bullet train project is very likely to get the green light from the Legislature soon.

That’s the consensus of those who have been counting votes among the Legislature’s dominant Democrats, who can give the California High-Speed Rail Authority authorization to sell bonds and begin construction of an initial segment in the San Joaquin Valley.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
March 20, 2012 | 5:21 pm

It looks like Molly Munger has finally gotten the attention of Gov. Jerry Brown.

Munger, a Pasadena attorney, is backing a measure for the November ballot rivaling the governor’s tax plan. Brown has called made it clear he would like Munger to drop her initiative campaign, but he has not yet met with Munger to discuss tax policy. Brown said Tuesday that he spoke briefly to Munger for the first time last week, and that his wife, Anne, had an email exchange with her, but that Munger seemed unwilling to back away from her initiative.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Two days after Gov. Jerry Brown announced a compromise ballot measure to raise taxes, California’s top budget analyst said today that the measure will generate $2.2 billion less next year than Brown has estimated.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Mar. 16, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

During a stream-of-consciousness speech to a gathering of police chiefs this week, Jerry Brown noted that during his first governorship, personal income taxes generated about a third of the state’s revenue, but since have become a dominant source.

The result, he continued, was “more volatility” in the state’s revenue, which resulted in “a more or less constant state” of deficits.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Buchanan,Marisa Lagos
Thursday, March 15, 2012

Sacramento –Gov. Jerry Brown said Wednesday he had struck a deal with supporters of a rival tax initiative to unite behind a new ballot measure that combines elements of both proposals to increase the state sales tax and raise income taxes on the wealthiest Californians.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
March 12, 2012

The California Chamber of Commerce announced its opposition today to two of Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax rivals but remained silent on the governor’s own plan, tacitly giving his proposal a boost as he tries to thin the field.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Mar. 11, 2012 – 2:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Sunday, Mar. 11, 2012 – 9:49 am

Last year, for all his wine and conversation, it was Republican lawmakers Gov. Jerry Brown couldn’t budge on tax increases.

This year, it is Democratic interests he is failing to control.

Read the rest of this entry »

Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnist
Sunday, March 11, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown’s oft-repeated claim that having voters choose among three competing tax measures will spell doom for all of them in November may be more rhetoric than reality.

When the Field Poll tested Brown’s proposal to raise income taxes for the wealthy and sales taxes for everyone last month, it split the survey sample – with half the 1,000 respondents asked only about the governor’s plan and half asked about the Brown measure and its two potential competitors.

Read the rest of this entry »

By David Siders and Kevin Yamamura
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Mar. 9, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Friday, Mar. 9, 2012 – 12:16 am

Gov. Jerry Brown said Thursday he is racing to clear the November ballot of two rival tax initiatives because failure will lead to severe ongoing budget problems and Democratic blame-trading.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, March 8, 2012 – 10:30 a.m.

Is State Senator Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga) backpedaling on his endorsement of democrat James Ramos?

Or did he ever endorse Ramos at all?

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
March 7, 2012 | 9:00 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax hike is favored by a slim majority of California voters, according to a new poll released Wednesday night.

The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 52% of likely voters back the temporary combination of a half-cent sales tax hike and higher levies on wealthy earners. Forty percent oppose it, while 8% are undecided.

Read the rest of this entry »

Marisa Lagos
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that two tax proposals likely to be competing with his tax measure on the November ballot would do little or nothing to solve the state’s persistent deficit and would create even bigger fiscal problems resulting in further spending cuts.

In a meeting with The Chronicle’s editorial board, Brown sought to sell his tax initiative as the only one that is comprehensive, solves the state’s fiscal crisis and delivers an increase in funding to public schools, universities and other state services.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Political machinations over the state budget dominate every legislative session, but this year’s version of the annual budget game may be particularly bizarre due to a confluence of unusual factors, to wit:

• Not only is it an election year, but incumbents and aspirants will be running in districts that have been altered, sometimes hugely, by the state’s new redistricting commission.

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By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 4A

Gov. Jerry Brown is counting on $6.5 billion too much for his proposed budget, even with Facebook’s stock sale on the horizon, according to a new economic review by the state’s fiscal analyst.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 27, 2012 | 5:20 pm

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday sounded still hopeful of gaining federal approval for more flexibility in administering the Medi-Cal health insurance program for the poor, even after having been rebuffed by the Obama administration.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

For the past two months, Gov. Jerry Brown has been selling the concept that were the Legislature to approve his proposed budget and voters to approve his tax increase, the state’s fiscal house would be repaired.

It’s turning out to be more a pipe dream than a realistic plan.

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THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

Published: 26 February 2012 07:45 PM

Sen. Dianne Feinstein had a few words for Gov. Jerry Brown when she visited the Inland area last week.

Read the rest of this entry »

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 26, 2012 | 9:03 am

Gov. Jerry Brown began his Sunday morning the same way he did exactly 34 years ago -– with a morning sit-down on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

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Molly Munger

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 23, 2012 | 2:35 pm

Backers of a $10-billion income tax hike to fund California public schools launched a petition drive on Thursday to qualify the measure for the November ballot, brushing off a poll by Gov. Jerry Brown’s political operation that showed their effort is deeply unpopular with voters.

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Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/22/2012 06:30:42 PM PST

State Sen. Republican leader Bob Huff, R-Walnut, and Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway, R-Tulare, on Wednesday introduced legislation that duplicates Gov. Jerry Brown’s pension reform plan.

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