Gov. Brown, Lawmakers Agree On $115.4 Billion California Budget

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced Tuesday that they reached a budget deal that calls for $115.4 billion in spending in the fiscal year that begins July 1, including more spending on social welfare programs that Democrats had made a priority.

The deal includes $265 million to fund 7,000 additional preschool slots and 6,800 child care slots and extends the state's health insurance program for the poor to children who are in the country illegally.

"This is a sound, well thought-out budget," Brown said in statement. "Yet, the work never ends and in the coming months we'll have to manage our resources with the utmost prudence and find more adequate funding for our roads and health care programs."

Brown also announced that he is calling two special sessions to address how California pays for roads, highways and other infrastructure and Medi-Cal, the state's health program for the poor.

The announcement came a day after legislative Democrats passed their own budget plan that called for $117.5 billion in spending. Democrats sought to restore spending on a host of social welfare programs that were cut during the recession. Their plan called for $749 million more in social welfare funding than Brown had set aside.

But Brown has cautioned about overspending as the state rebounds from the economic recovery, forecasting that the state won't collect as much in tax revenues as lawmakers are projecting.

Sticking points in the talks had included whether California should expand state-funded child care and preschool, allow child care workers to unionize and extend health care to children from low-income families who are in the country illegally.

Lawmakers will schedule a vote on the new spending plan so it can be adopted before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.