Spending by Calif. governors since 1959
By The Associated PressSeptember 13, 2010
Text size – +
Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman claims spending under Jerry Brown skyrocketed when he was governor. But the numbers show a different story when employing calculations used by economists.
Whitman asserts spending under Brown rose 120 percent. She compares Brown's first approved budget to his last one but does not account for inflation and population growth, two key factors economists use to calculate real government spending.
The Associated Press began with the budget Brown inherited so that it would reflect the spending increase in the first budget he approved. That means unadjusted spending increased nearly 147 percent over his eight years in office.