STALEMATE: Tax initiative in jeopardy as Brown, GOP remain tight-lipped.
SACRAMENTO - The end of budget talks between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republican lawmakers has shrouded California's fiscal future even more, leaving officials cautious about publicly saying what options remain.
Lawmakers and Brown's office on Wednesday would say only that they are discussing their next steps.
"We're evaluating all our options now, but at the end of the day it's still going to be about getting legislators and voters to own up to the choices and consequences of balancing the budget," Brown political adviser Steven Glazer said.
By giving up on talks with Republican legislators on Tuesday, Brown effectively abandoned his push for a June special election to renew temporary sales, vehicle and income taxes the state Legislature approved two years ago.
The Democratic governor had wanted to close the state's $26.6 billion budget gap with a near equal amount of cuts and taxes. Last week, he signed bills that reduced California's deficit to about $15.4 billion through a mix of spending cuts and fund shifts.
California's leading unions were still holding out hope that state lawmakers would put a tax initiative before voters.
"We haven't abandoned that approach," said Mike Myslinski, a spokesman for the California Teachers Association.
He said lawmakers and the governor need to get back to the negotiating table.
Republicans believe more money could be saved through pension reform and a state spending
cap.In addition, they said streamlining business regulations would stimulate job growth, and schools can save money by contracting out non-academic services and increasing course loads of professors.
In the absence of a June election, the governor could pursue a November ballot initiative to ask Californians to pay higher taxes.
No comments:
Post a Comment