Governor Brown could walk out the door of the horseshoe today and feel good about his successes governor. He’s closed a $27 billion budget deficit and built up hefty reserves. Increased by tens of billions support for education. Reduced the nagging prison overcrowding problem. And, of course, cemented California’s leadership on tackling climate change on the world stage. For his last year as captain of the S.S. California, he just needs to solidify his accomplishments, tackle a few nagging problems, and stem the damage from the Trump Administration’s multi-pronged attacks on health care, taxes, and the environment that will impact the state’s budget and economy. In other words, steady as she goes but beware of political icebergs.
Are there other heavyweight issues that Brown has neglected he might take up in the last legislative session? Sure. Like California’s dirty little secret of having 1 million residents without safe drinking water, long overdue and complex CEQA reform, and addressing poverty head on. And he needs to go to the mat to make sure the gas tax repeal fails and housing and water bonds pass by solid margins. It’s an ambitious agenda for a governorship marked by tackling big issues in a big way.