Opinion: Brown struggles on three fronts with state budget
By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee
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.
Meanwhile, Brown is pressing liberal Democratic legislators to ignore their political DNA by making deeper cuts in health and welfare programs, not only to close the deficit but to bolster appeals to voters for new taxes.
“It’s not easy,” Brown told hundreds of business and civic figures gathered Tuesday in Sacramento for the annual Host Breakfast.
“We’re getting there,” Brown continued. “We’re making the cuts. But we also need the revenues.”