California Eyes Doomsday Budget
Brown Sees Cuts And More Cuts
Friday, December 17, 2010
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ReprintsALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s governor-elect, Jerry Brown, has to deliver a budget proposal on Jan. 10.
He won’t be sworn in until Jan. 3, but he’s already been busy over the last two weeks preparing people for how unhappy that budget is likely to make them.
The incoming governor held two forums on the budget — an event for state lawmakers Dec. 8 in Sacramento, followed by an education-focused forum Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The key takeaway from those sessions is that his budget is likely to include a lot of cuts.
At the Los Angeles forum, heavily populated with education administrators, teachers, and school board members, Brown warned his audience to be sitting down when he releases his budget Jan. 10.
“If you’re in a car, fasten your seat belt,” he said. “It’s going to be a rough ride, but we’ll get through it.”
Education spending accounts for the largest share of the state budget, and represents a potent source of political funding for the state Legislature’s Democratic majority. Brown