Jerry Brown's plea to voters: 'Please increase taxes temporarily' (LA Times)

Jerry Brown's plea to voters: 'Please increase taxes temporarily'

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for closing California's $16-billion funding gap includes 4-day state workweeks and Medi-Cal cuts. He warns that cuts will be even more severe if voters reject tax hikes on the November ballot.

By Chris Megerian and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
May 14, 2012

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday released his plan to contain California's rapidly growing deficit by closing state offices one day a week, deepening healthcare cuts and implementing a variety of short-term fixes -- all in the hope that voters give the state more breathing room by approving higher taxes in November.

Brown warned that the deficit could grow significantly if his proposed ballot measure to raise the state sales tax and income levies on high earners fails. He says that would trigger severe cuts in public education that would be the equivalent of lopping three weeks off the school year.

"I'm linking these serious budget reductions … with a plea to the voters: Please increase taxes temporarily," Brown said at a morning news conference to announce his revised plan for the budget year that begins July 1.

California's deficit has swelled to nearly $16 billion, the governor said — almost double what he assumed in his initial budget proposal in January. The shortfall is a result of lower-than-projected tax receipts, an increase in school money under a voter-approved funding formula and opposition to cuts from the federal government, courts and Democratic state lawmakers.

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

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