Will Democrats Rein in California Budget?
There is no good reason for California’s budget to do anything but improve our credit rating.
California Governor Jerry Brown, running for an unprecedented fourth term, says that if he can curb his fellow Democrats’ spending dreams, the most-indebted state may win its highest credit rating in five years.
Brown and lawmakers are pushing separate versions of a budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Democrats who control the legislature want to spend more of the surplus money California is raking in from capital gains and $7 billion of higher income and sales taxes that voters approved in 2012. Brown says the state must first put aside money for a rainy day and pay down its debts.
“Our credit rating is going up,” Brown, 76, told reporters in Sacramento last week after he won a primary election to advance to the general in November. “If we get the right kind of budget, it’ll go up again.”
More: Brown Tells Democrats to Rein in California Budget: Muni Credit - Bloomberg