Jerry Brown: A New Era of Limits

03 December 2010 |permalink | email article

THE Democratic governor-elect, yet to announce a single appointment to his new administration, is convening an unprecedented gathering next Wednesday in Sacramento to address the state’s economic crisis in a seminar-style forum with all 120 lawmakers, state constitutional officers and some local officials which an aide send could last for hours. Two other sessions are planned for the Bay Area and Southern California.

The conclave will take place two days after the lawmakers are sworn in and just as they begin to deliberate on a special session called by lame-duck Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reduce the $6.1 billion revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year. Democrats are likely to ignore the former actor’s budget, and wait until Brown issues his own plan one month later.

The Legislature has ignored a special session call before. Outgoing Republican Gov. George Deukmejian called one in late 1990 to solve a $1 billion gap in a $38.2 billion general fund budget which called for a 1 percent across-the board spending cut and an even greater reduction in school spending. It all fell on deaf ears. 

The state is facing a $25.4 billion deficit over the next year and a half, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. With no sign of an immediate economic rebound Brown’s immediate challenge is to assess which services the public wants and which they can dispense with. “It’s a no-lose situation for Brown,” said Larry Gerston, political science professor at San Jose State. “He’s demonstrating what he said he’d do: reach out to the parties and try to find a direction that most would accept.”

What they said

“It’s too bad it happened to him, but in certain ways he’s very lucky. If it happened to you, you or you, it’s called jail time.” – Donald Trump, solicited by now-censured Rep. Charles Rangel for a donation and scheduled to testify at his ethics trial.

“I’m trying to catch my breath so I don’t refer to this maneuver going on today as Chicken Crap, alright? But this is nonsense.” – House Minority Leader John Boehner, avoiding tears but commenting on the Democratic majority vote to continue Bush era tax-cuts for middle-income families which has no chance for passage in the Senate. 

“Tom DeLay’s money-laundering charges carry a 99-year maximum sentence. That’s definitely enough time to master the cha-cha.” – Crib Sheet, Henry Alford, New York Times.

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