Former governor Pete Wilson thinks its unlikely that Republicans in the legislature will vote to put Governor Jerry Brown’s tax extensions on the ballot.

I caught up with Wilson yesterday after he appeared on a panel at the Reagan Presidential Library discussing Ronald Reagan’s legacy as part of the centennial celebration of Reagan’s birth. (I’ll have more on the Reagan legacy panel discussion in tomorrow’s post.)

Wilson said with gerrymandered districts, Republican legislators live in districts in which their constituents do not want tax increases.

If the tax measures were to make it on the ballot by whatever means, Wilson thinks the taxes will be difficult to pass. "The only thing that would make it remotely saleable to the public would be if they combine it with a real, honest-to-God spending limit like the old Gann Limit," he said.

The state spending limit was created by an initiative authored by taxpayer advocate Paul Gann. It passed overwhelmingly in a special election in 1979, but was weakened by later amendments.