Via LAist: Only days before the California budget is to be voted on by the state legislature, Governor Jerry Brown has released a video about his fiscal plan for the state.
The California constitution mandates that the budget be voted on by this Wednesday. Lawmakers will undergo a salary freeze if they fail to do so, writes The Sacramento Bee.
The Governor outlines four objectives in the video. First, he intends to "bring government closer to the people" via a process of "realignment." Second, he wishes to make "deep and permanent cuts to ongoing state programs." Third, he wants a "temporary extension of taxes," contingent on approval by California voters. Finally, he desires reforms in regulations and pensions, and a cap on ongoing state spending.
But Governor Brown, as he says in his video, needs four more Republican votes -- two in the State Senate and two in the Assembly -- to get approval for a statewide ballot measure on the temporary extension of taxes. In the video he emphasizes his goal "to take power from the state capital and move it down to the local level, closer to the people." However, if he cannot get the Republican votes, "this Wednesday the budget will be voted on, one way or the other." Watch the video here: