Budget?

The Governor did issue his May Revision which is better than we had hoped but essentially the same as his original budget in January. There was a serious up-tick in the tax revenues ($3 Billion) which they are projecting will sustain itself for the next two years (to $6 Billion). However, the real question is will it be any different than January when Governor Brown issued about the same thing but got nowhere in actually enacting the budget.


My guess is that the Governor is an experienced politician that learned a lot in the January to March sequence and won’t make the same errors again. I think he understands that with Prop 25 he really doesn’t need the Republicans (though he did send the olive branch back in January / February) AND the legislators are motivated differently than before, as failure to enact a budget means they don’t get paid. Further, unlike prior years when it took 2/3 to pass the budget, now it only takes a simple majority (which would suggest there is no longer a Big 5 only a Big 3).

It should be interesting to watch in the next 30 to 60 days to see if it really is different AND successful.