Brown Revealing Next Steps For California At State Of The State Address Today
Click here at 10 a.m. to watch the address live.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - After scoring victories last year on his signature priority of climate change, Gov. Jerry Brown will lay out his next agenda for California as he delivers his state of the state address Thursday.
The 77-year-old Democrat is entering his sixth year as governor after previously holding the post from 1975 to 1983. This time around he is more focused on initiatives he deems critical, and he has a massive cache of political money available to drive home the point.
Brown spent much of the last year promoting California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions leading up to the United Nations climate talks in Paris. Some lawmakers griped that he did not dedicate enough time to more mundane issues at home, such as the two special sessions he called on health care financing and transportation.
Neither issue ever got traction in 2015. Brown has acknowledged he needs to be more involved in negotiations on how to pay for the $59 billion backlog in needed road repairs and his proposal for a new $1 billion tax on health providers to help fund the state's health insurance program for the poor.
"I increase my role," Brown said earlier this month on how he'll secure deals on the special sessions. "I have more conversations."
His 2016-2017 fiscal year budget proposal also signaled some of Brown's other priorities. He stressed the need to dedicate surging one-time tax revenues to the state's rainy day fund, noting that another downturn in the economy could be just around the corner.
That has prompted criticism from social welfare advocates who think California should spend more of its windfall to help those who are not benefiting from the state's booming economy. Republicans oppose his tax proposals, saying the state has enough money at its disposal without boosting taxes.
Two of his most costly and most prized projects face scrutiny inside the capital and out: his $68 billion plan to build a bullet train system spanning the state, and his $15 billion twin tunnels plan that would ship water from the San Joaquin Delta to Southern California.
Even Democratic lawmakers are questioning the viability and spending plans outlined by Brown's appointees to the high-speed rail project. A wealthy Central Valley farmer has qualified a November initiative that would give voters the final say on the water plan, which the administration has rebranded as the "California Water Fix."
Brown made a forceful case for the water project last week, telling reporters "If we don't have the project, the Delta will fail, the water will not be available and California will suffer devastating economic consequences."
Despite conflicts on those issues, Brown retains immense political clout, along with at least $24 million in his campaign bank account, which he can use to support or oppose any of a slew of initiatives making their way to the ballot this year.
Besides the anti-tunnel initiative, there are proposals to extend the voter-approved sales and income taxes Brown backed and a $9 billion school construction bond. Brown has urged lawmakers to take their own approach, saying the Legislature "will do a better job than the developers who put that one together."
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
