California Governor Jerry Brown is calling for another year of fiscal prudence, despite the state’s four-and-a-half billion dollar budget surplus. That’s drawing mixed reactions from legislative Democrats and cautious praise from minority Republicans. Ben Adler has more from Sacramento.
There was little suspense over the contents of the budget itself after it leaked out two days early. But that didn’t stop the governor from making his case for restraint.
He pointed to a chart of red and black bars showing the deficits and surpluses from the last decade.
Brown: “Now some people would say, because we have this little black mark here, that we should go on a spending binge. I don’t agree with that.”
The governor’s budget is music to the ears of Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway:
Conway: “With a few exceptions, I would strongly consider supporting it, if it stayed exactly the way it is.”
Legislative Democrats said they, too, want to pay down debt and build a reserve. But they also made clear they’ll push for more investments between now and a final budget agreement in June.