Revised Calif. budget has less money for new programs
By John Myers, Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown sent legislators a revised version of his state budget on Friday, insisting that lawmakers hold overall spending flat while endorsing a $2-billion bond to help the homeless.
“We have the money, and it’s a serious problem,” Brown said at a state Capitol news conference.
The support for a housing bond, which still would face sizable legal and political hurdles, was the most noticeable pronouncement in a $173.1-billion spending plan that otherwise holds the line on new programs and confirms a noticeable erosion in state revenues compared to estimates from January.
Overall, tax receipts are now expected to shrink by $1.9 billion. And Brown’s budget team continues to say that California could face as much as a $4-billion deficit by the summer of 2020.