Those who do not believe that Governor Jerry Brown is a different kind of Governor might want to look at his quick veto of his own party’s budget.
In a video release on Thursday, the Governor delivered a quick message that he would not not sign Senate Bill 69 and Assembly Bill 98, which together comprise the state budget passed by the Legislature on June 15, 2011.
He called the efforts of the Democrats in the Legislature “valiant,” suggesting that the $11 billion in painful cuts was a noteworthy accomplishment. “I commend them for their tremendous efforts to balance the budget in the absence of Republican cooperation,” the Governor said.
However, he criticized the budget for having the same kinds of gimmicks as the previous regime – gimmicks he has promised to end.
“Unfortunately, the budget I have received is not a balanced solution. It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt. It also contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings. Finally, it is not financeable and therefore will not allow us to meet our obligations as they occur,” the Governor stated.
He concluded that the state must do better. He said, “A balanced budget is critical to our economic recovery. I am, once again, calling on Republicans to allow the people of California to vote on tax extensions for a balanced budget and significant reforms”
He added, “They should also join Democrats in supporting job creation and ending tax breaks for out-of-state companies. If they continue to obstruct a vote, we will be forced to pursue deeper and more destructive cuts to schools and public safety– a tragedy for which Republicans will bear full responsibility.”
In a press conference he stood by his veto, but said he may ultimately supports elements of the budget plan. He did not elaborate on what he liked about the plan other than to suggest he liked the idea of taxing online purchases calling it “a common sense idea.”
He said this was the first time in history that a state budget had been vetoed, but at the same time he put the blame squarely on the Republicans.
“I hold the Republicans responsible for this,” he said. “We had a plan that was balanced and they blocked it.”
Democratic legislative leaders were not happy. They issued a joint statement in which they said, “We are deeply dismayed by the Governor’s veto today.”
They added a sense of almost betrayal, “We have supported the Governor’s January proposal from the moment he unveiled it, and quite frankly, we have moved heaven and earth to get his budget approved—to the point that Democrats voted for billions of dollars of budget cuts we absolutely deplore.”
The statement concluded, “We did this because we believe he had the right to try and make his plan workable, but at the end of the day, he could not get the Republican votes. Today’s veto was unnecessary and counterproductive, and it leaves us back at square one.”
Senator Steinberg, the leader of the Senate said it was “apparently part of some elaborate strategy to force a confrontation.”
The Sacramento Bee reported, “Brown’s rejection was not entirely surprising, given his pledge against papering over the state deficit with the types of accounting maneuvers and tax swaps in the Democratic plan. But the speed – about 16 hours after passage – seemed to catch Democratic leaders off-guard.”
The reaction from rank and file Democrats was interesting, Senator Ted Lieu said on Twitter, “No excuse for a Democratic Governor to blindside a Democratic legislature that was working with him and his staff.”
Assemblyman Wes Chesbro added, “The governor will join the Republicans in bearing the responsibility for this tragedy.”
Yolo County’s representatives in the legislature, Assemblymember Mariko Yamada and Senator Lois Wolk, were quiet on Thursday.
Though Senator Wolk on Wednesday indicated, “I would not be surprised or disappointed if the Governor vetoed this budget and asked Republicans to join with us to try again and get it right.”
Yolo County Presiding Judge David Rosenberg, who had lambasted the cut to the courts on Wednesday, indicated on Thursday quick approval for the Governor’s actions.
“The Governor’s prompt veto prevented an assault on the administration of justice in California,” said Judge Rosenberg. “Courts have to remain open and accessible for all. What the Legislature apparently forgot, but what the Governor clearly understood, is that Judges do not control the number and scope of cases coming to us – that’s controlled by members of the public and prosecuting attorneys who file those cases. The Branch has to be adequately funded to do the job the Constitution mandates. The budget that the Governor vetoed would have seriously impaired the Judicial Branch’s ability to do its constitutional duty.”
Four Republican leaders – Senators Tom Berryhill, Anthony Cannella, Bill Emmerson, and Tom Harman – had a mixed reaction on Thursday.
In a joint statement they indicated, “While the governor did the right thing by vetoing the Democrats’ sham budget, we challenge his assertion that Republicans have blocked the right of the people to vote. In fact, it’s the Democrats who are holding California hostage by refusing to allow the voters to weigh in on meaningful structural reforms – not just Gov. Brown’s tax proposal.”
Meanwhile, Governor Brown, the skilled and seasoned politician that he is, has achieved what he wanted, placing himself between the Democrats on the left and the Republicans on the right.
The Bee wrote this morning, “Brown is not an inflexible politician, but neither has he hesitated to use the veto. As governor from 1975 to 1983, Brown vetoed a 14.5 percent pay raise for state employees in 1979. He was overridden by the Legislature, something it has done only four times since 1946.”
Still, triangulation is an interesting strategy, when your party is in the majority. However, most observers say that the Governor has now retaken control of the budget debate and is in control of the agenda.
The Bee further reported, “Democrats said they felt their budget was reasonable, albeit “imperfect.” They said they refused to cut schools, corrections and health and welfare programs any further.”
Indeed the governor warned of “deeper and more destructive cuts to schools and public safety,” should Republicans block taxes.
However, as the Bee reports, “But Steinberg and Pérez said they will not approve those cuts and would force Brown to use his line-item veto authority to achieve them.”
In the end, it is still unclear where this takes us. But Governor Brown is the one who is in control and thus likely to get what he wants eventually.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Three cheers for Jerry Brown. He promised not to give us a budget filled with smoke and mirrors and he delivered.
And three cheers for our City Council who also are trying to do the right thing.
Perhaps we have entered an era of fiscal semi-responsibility at the State and local level, though our federal govt continues to squander money.
From my reading of the political tea leaves, the tax extensions will fail at the ballot box even if they get there and we are in a continued process of spending cuts. As I blogged before, I don’t mind some tax increases, if they are intelligent (starting with sales tax on out of State purchases).
But as this process moves forward and govt agencies and schools adjust to lower budgets, voters will be less inclined to give them more. I am not saying this is what I want, just my reading of voters.
[quote]He said this was the first time in history that a state budget had been vetoed, but at the same time he put the blame squarely on the Republicans.
“I hold the Republicans responsible for this,” he said. “We had a plan that was balanced and they blocked it.”
Democratic legislative leaders were not happy. They issued a joint statement in which they said, “We are deeply dismayed by the Governor’s veto today.”[/quote]
Bottom line, Brown conveniently holds Republicans responsible for his own failures in leadership. The Democrats don’t even buy into the “blame the Republicans” argument this time.
Brown had an opportunity to get Republicans on his side if he had coupled budget talks with pension reform, but he adamantly refused. He was determined to have things his own way, and what we have now is the result of his intransigence – NO BUDGET. He has managed to alienate not only Republicans, but his own party – the Democrats – as well.
Please explain to me how anyone can think Brown is doing a good job? From what I can tell, he is acting like a spoiled child, who is saying he is going to take his toys away and go home if the other kids in the sandbox won’t play his way. Sigh…
An amazing perspective, Elaine. I totally disagree. Brown is the only one acting like a grownup.
ERM: [i]He has managed to alienate not only Republicans, but his own party – the Democrats – as well.[/i]
What makes you so sure that Brown has alienated his own party?
Um, I think here is some evidence….
[url]http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/steinberg-to-block-confirmatio.html[/url]
ERM: [i]Brown had an opportunity to get Republicans on his side if he had coupled budget talks with pension reform, but he adamantly refused.[/i]
Wrong:
[i]For the better part of the last month, Brown held intense and private discussions with five Republican senators — the so-called GOP 5 — over the rollbacks they wanted in pension benefits to public employee unions, business regulations and spending restrictions on future government spending.
But talks were dealt what proved to be a fatal blow late last week when [b]Dutton and his top budget negotiator, Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, took over talks and delivered a 53-point list of demands[/b] . . . [/i]
[quote]Brown is the only one acting like a grownup.[/quote]
How is pointing fingers helpful? How is that acting like a grownup? How is that going to get the Republicans to cooperate?
[quote]Wrong:
For the better part of the last month, Brown held intense and private discussions with five Republican senators — the so-called GOP 5 — over the rollbacks they wanted in pension benefits to public employee unions, business regulations and spending restrictions on future government spending.
But talks were dealt what proved to be a fatal blow late last week when Dutton and his top budget negotiator, Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, took over talks and delivered a 53-point list of demands .[/quote]
Brown’s attempts to claim he was willing to talk pension reform were too little too late. I remember when he first stepped into the position as Governor, he made it very clear he was not willing to broach the subject of pension reform – only the budget was going to be taken up. It set the battle lines from the very beginning…
[i]”What makes you so sure that Brown has alienated his own party?”[/i]
I don’t know if ‘alienated’ is the right word, but clearly there is a division. (There was also a division between Arnie and the legislative GOP when the Governator was in office.)
Part of this division is natural, given their different geographic constituencies. But another part is that Brown and Arnie before him are political moderates, while the Republicans in the legislature tend to be hard right and the Dems hard left.
It’s obvious that Steinberg dances to the tune of the public employee unions. Witness his horrific actions with regard to municipal bankruptcy.
Dan Walters, in his column today ([url]http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/17/3707359/dan-walters-if-california-legislators.html#storylink=omni_popular[/url]), adds another bit to this divsion: the unions, unlike Brown, don’t want to go to the voters to extend the higher tax rates. Walters does not think the unions will put up money to try to win those votes, if they made the ballot: [quote] A complicating factor is that Steinberg, Pérez and public employee unions really don’t want the fall election that Brown seeks on taxes, fearing – with good reason – that voters would reject them. [/quote] Walters has futher said that he thinks there is a good chance the state will literally run out of money later this fall. With no budget and no authority to borrow, he suggests that is a real possibility. That means defaulting on bonds, as well.
[quote]When Gov. Brown vetoed the budget yesterday, he also halted one of the “legally questionable maneuvers” referred to in his veto message, in which legislators attempted to ignore the constitutional funding requirements of Proposition 98.
[url]http://toped.svefoundation.org/2011/06/17/the-prop-98-disappearing-act/[/url]
[/quote]
ERM: [i]only the budget was going to be taken up.[/i]
Correct, and as it should have been. The date on that article (Contra Costa Times) was the end of March, when, after 60 days of negotiating, the ‘GOP 5’ caved to pressure from the Reep leadership. Their fear of the people was palpable, and it hasn’t changed.
Rich: The California bond market needs to read Walters. It is doing quite well.