Nobody — least of of the Democrats in the state Legislature — quite knows why Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the state budget. In fact, he didn’t even tell Legislative leaders what he was about to do. “There was no heads up, and that’s the most annoying part of it,” Assemblymember Tom Ammiano told me.
Brown knew exactly what the Democrats were doing. He also knew (or ought to know) that getting any Republicans ever to vote for his tax extensions was, and is, a pipe dream. If he didn’t like the Dems proposal, he could have asked for changes. But no: Jerry is Jerry, and he did his own thing. (Just like Arnold, he complained about the “can being kicked down the road.”) His veto message talks about how “strong medicine must be taken” to solve the deep fiscal crisis; without taxes (which the GOP won’t allow) I guess he’s talking about more cuts. I guess he’s talking about Californians really feeling the deep pain of another $10 billion cuts to services, so maybe they’ll wake up and demand more revenue and oust the Republicans.
But in the meantime, the governor won’t miss any meals.
Brian at Calitics looks at the bright side — at least that sale/leaseback idea is gone. And yes, the budget that the Democrats put forward was ugly and far from perfect. But I don’t see where we go from here. The Democrats in the Legislature aren’t going to vote for another $10 billion in cuts; no way. And the Republicans aren’t going to vote for tax extensions. And the existing taxes expire at the end of the month.
If there’s a good alternative out there, I don’t see it.