Finish line in sight for California budget
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
It’s going to be a marathon day in the Capitol on Wednesday as lawmakers plan to vote on the last pieces of the state budget. Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign the spending plan into law by the end of the day.
The final budget is pegged at $91.5 billion, but that could be reduced if Brown uses his line-item veto power to pare down spending further.
Democrats pushed a budget through the Legislature without a single Republican vote June 15. Since then, Brown and legislative leaders have continued to negotiate a series of related bills.
That has lead to revisions to the budget in recent days, with a compromise on welfare, additional funding that could prevent college tuition hikes and the elimination of a proposal to limit liability for wildfires.
Democrats are also pushing changes that could give Brown’s tax plan better placement on the November ballot.
Meanwhile, the Brown administration has continued negotiating with public employee unions in hopes of reducing compensation by 5%. It reached a deal with the largest state workers union, SEIU 1000, over the weekend.
RELATED:
California Legislature passes $92.1-billion budget
California lawmakers again waging political warfare over welfare
Gov. Jerry Brown, Democratic legislative leaders reach budget deal
-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento
