Noticias

http://in.noticios.com/post/gov-jerry-brown-begins-wooing-gop-support-for-tax-plan-los-angeles-times-post-1295309344Gov. Jerry Brown begins wooing GOP support for tax plan - Los Angeles TimesAdvertisementYOU ARE HERE: LAT Home→Collections→PoliticsGov. Jerry Brown begins wooing GOP support for tax planDemocratic Gov. Jerry Brown needs as few as four Republican votes in the California Legislature to place a measure on the ballot that would extend $9 billion in recent tax hikes â€" levies Republicans have opposed.Gov. Jerry Brown surprises some visitors while working the Capitol on Tuesday.… (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)January 12, 2011|By Anthony York and Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times Reporting from Sacramento â€" Before Gov. Jerry Brown can ask voters to ratify the multibillion-dollar tax plan he says will rescue California's finances, he must win over a handful of Republicans with a combination of charm, arm-twisting and compromise â€" a task he's already begun. The Democratic governor needs as few as four GOP votes to place a measure on the ballot that would extend $9 billion in recent tax hikes â€" levies Republicans have opposed.
"I will … go into the lion's den and see if I can convince them to live with a little less red meat than they're accustomed [to]," Brown said after unveiling his spending plan Monday. The governor had already appealed to Republicans' cost-cutting tendencies in an austerity budget that calls for $12 billion in spending cuts; in abolishing some of the state bureaucracy; and in cutting his own office budget by 25%. On Tuesday, he worked the Capitol, holding closed-door meetings with lawmakers and courting natural political adversaries whose support could help get his proposal to the ballot. He also ordered the number of state-issued cellphones cut by half, showing legislators and voters alike that he knows the value of a dollar â€" and of a little political stagecraft. With a deficit now projected at $25.4 billion, Brown's move will save only $20 million â€" "budget dust," in government parlance. Business groups â€" the Republicans' natural allies â€" are among those whose nod could help deliver GOP votes. Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable, suggested that his organization might be amenable to the tax extension and an elimination of corporate tax breaks in Brown's budget if linked to a cap on future state spending. "My business folks will be supportive overall of the need to shock Sacramento out of its state of denial and start dealing with reality," Hauck said. Still, Republicans who vote for Brown's plan may do so at great political risk. In 2009, votes in favor of tax increases cost the Assembly and state Senate minority chiefs their leadership posts. One Republican assemblyman faced a recall attempt, and three of the six Republicans who voted for the tax hikes lost bids for higher office in November. Brown, who does not need voters' approval for the taxes but promised while campaigning that he would seek it, tried to recast the debate Tuesday. Failure to extend the taxes for five years, he said, would mean deep cuts in services that Republicans support.
1 | 2 | NextEmailPrintDiggTwitterFacebookStumbleUponShareFEATUREDMammoth Lakes fears financial ruin after legal judgmentA reversal on carbsOne last fight looms for the battleship IowaMORE:Vaginal steam bath finds a place among Southern California spa optionsFour hot hairstyles for fallFlipping through e-readers, a skeptic becomes a believer
AdvertisementRELATEDVideo:  Video: Brown's budget planGov. Jerry Brown orders California workers to turn in 48,000 cellphonesHigher education leaders anxious about cuts in proposed California budgetFROM THE ARCHIVESJerry Brown rolls the dice with pain-filled budget plan for...January 11, 2011Jerry Brown takes a hard look at Prop. 13January 5, 2011Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tame budget with tax extensions...January 9, 2011Jerry Brown plays hardball on state budgetDecember 29, 2010Estimated state budget deficit reaches $25.4 billionNovember 11, 2010MORE STORIES ABOUTPoliticsCaliforniaNewsJerry BrownCopyright 2011 Los Angeles TimesTerms of Service|Privacy Policy|Index by Date|Index by Keyword
http://in.noticios.com/post/gov-jerry-brown-begins-wooing-gop-support-for-tax-plan-los-angeles-times-post-1295309344