Gov. Brown Announced Talks Are Over - March 29, 2011

March 29, 2011

Dear Colleagues,

Governor Brown just announced that talks are over between him and Republican members, stating that "in the coming weeks I will focus my efforts on speaking directly to Californians and coming up with honest and real solutions to our budget crisis." He also released a letter that he sent to Senate Republican Leader Robert Dutton following Friday night's release by the GOP of their demands.

The move follows growing unease by labor groups and spending-side advocacy constituencies of the June election plan, who felt that it wasn't worth the growing demands of the GOP together with the significant likelihood that special election voters would say "no" to the tax package but yes to pension reform and a spending cap.

This likely means the end of any possible June election. Democratic leaders will now likely huddle with the governor and decide whether to pursue several possible options:

1. approve an all-cuts plan with sights set on the presidential general election in November 2012;
2. approve an all-cuts plan and pursue a November initiative with a "targeted" tax package;
3. approve a half-cuts budget with a November initiative and return for more cuts if the initiative fails;
4. pursue majority-vote revenues and try to persuade the governor to break his pledge for voter approval of any tax increase.

Expect more reactions in the coming hours, which we will chronicle on our Twitter account, www.twitter.com/ccleague.

Sincerely,

Scott Lay
President and Chief Executive Officer, The League
Orange Coast College '94