Opinion: California’s budget probably not the last
By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
So did Democratic legislators accomplish anything on the state budget crisis Wednesday other than protect their paychecks?
Probably not.
Instead, by whipping a gimmick- and debt-based budget through both legislative houses lickety-split, Democrats appear to be petty and self-serving, thus adding to their already poor public standing. And they may have weakened Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown’s hand and bolstered Republicans in the budget game.
The precise consequences are unclear because this is uncharted political territory. It’s the first time in decades that the budget could be passed by a simple-majority vote, thanks to voters’ passage of Proposition 25 last year, rather than the long-standing two-thirds margin.