Exclusive Breaking News! Brown, Both Parties, Reform Groups to Embrace Constitutional Review
Confronting the role of the state’s broken governing system in the wake of the collapse of budget talks, Gov. Jerry Brown, leaders of both California political parties, and a variety of reformers plan to announce Friday that they will jointly support a wholesale rewrite of the state constitution, sources said.
The announcement reflected a shared frustration and a wholesale reversal for the governor, party leaders and leading reformers, who had been content to pursue short-term budget-balancing strategies and incremental reforms that would not resolve the state’s constant budget and governing crisis.
A Small Handfull of Pension Reform
Yesterday Governor Brown released a list of flagrant pension system abuses he proposes to fix as part of a pension reform package. This handful of first step reforms is great as far as it goes, but voters must not be fooled into believing that these baby steps will solve the pension crisis the Little Hoover Commission recently summarized as "Pension costs will crush government."
Much like the Governor’s thrifty plan to eliminate 50,000 state cell phones to help solve a $26 billion budget deficit, these token reforms are more symbolic gestures than substantive solutions to more than $200 billion in pension debts. Painless antibiotics will not cure cancer; you need radiation and chemotherapy.
Gov. Brown Retreats on Rightsizing State Bureaucracy
With a ballooning state budget deficit, Governor Brown’s decision to end budget negotiations is delaying California’s economic recovery.
With governors across the nation rightsizing their state governments by reducing spending and taxes, California continues to keep its foot on the accelerator.
By failing to control excessive spending, implement structural reform including 2-year budget, spending caps, pension reform, and civil service reform, along with eliminating and consolidating agencies, departments and the state’s 339 boards and commissions, the Governor continues our state’s multi-billion dollar deficit denying job creation and vital resources for every school district, city and county.