California’s 2012–2013 Budget: Brown’s Budget Gamble

Abstract

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2013-0021 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2013; 5(3): 361–399 Brian DiSarro* and Wesley Hussey California’s 2012–2013 Budget: Brown’s Budget Gamble Abstract: This report will begin with an explanation of California’s budget process. It is followed by a narrative of how the budget process played out this past year and an analysis of the enacted budget. Finally, the report reviews the 2012 elec- tion impact on the budget and politics in California, along with an outlook for the future. Keywords: budget; California; FY 2012–2013; governor; legislature. *Corresponding author: Brian DiSarro, California State University, Sacramento, CA, USA, e-mail: disarrob@csus.edu Wesley Hussey: California State University, Sacramento, CA, USA 1 Introduction In 2011, Governor Jerry Brown spent a great deal of time and political capital trying to get legislative Republicans to put his tax plan on the ballot. As those negotiations dragged on, and ultimately failed, Brown and his allies began to seriously consider an alternative strategy: gather signatures for a November 2011 ballot initiative that would extend the tax increases. As we wrote last year, this would allow the Governor to call a special election without the need of the leg- islature. 1 Brown had publicly discussed the ballot initiative option even before negations had ended with the Republicans. The Governor hoped California labor would help fund this expensive endeavor. But the process would require numerous months of planning and the arduous and expensive task of collecting over a million signatures in a very short amount of time, so there was a great deal of trepidation among Brown’s union supporters. They ultimately decided against it, once negotiations with the Repub- licans broke down. Consequently, placing the tax plan on the 2012 General Elec- tion Ballot became the new centerpiece of Brown’s 2012 budget plan. But passage of the tax plan was predicated on no rival tax plans appearing on the ballot muddying the waters. For most of 2012, there were several potential 1 Brian DiSarro & Wesley Hussey, 2012. “California’s 2011–2012 Budget: Balancing the Budget ­Behemoth.” California Journal of Politics & Policy, 4:56–90.