Newsom, Dahle to meet in only debate before Election Day
SAN JOSE, CALIF – At the urging of several Bay Area mayors, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Friday unveiled a plan intended to prevent “fiscal cliff” tax hikes from triggering automatic spending cuts from automatic cuts.
But the plan, which Brown told reporters is still being developed and tested, still doesn’t fully solve the problem.
“Today, I’m releasing a bill that will require, among other things, that the governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Public Utilities Commission and the state Department of Finance submit, in a matter of weeks, a plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff,” Brown said.
“I have confidence in the governor’s ability to negotiate with the Senate and with the leaders of the House,” Brown added. “But I also believe and therefore expect that the House will be in a position quickly to produce a bill that will avoid the fiscal cliff in the very near term that will balance the budget.”
That plan, which has been in development for several days and was first reported by CQ Roll Call, appears to include some elements of a bill introduced Thursday by the Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D).
As the Assembly and Senate work on their measures, Brown and others are also preparing a plan that would offer tax cuts and spending cuts, with the possibility of further tax cuts in 2013 to be combined with those from the two houses.
For example, Brown said he will ask for cuts totaling $8.8 billion in spending over the next two fiscal years. To save about 50 million people from tax increases, he said he’ll offer three tax breaks, including lowering the state corporate tax rate to 12 percent.
“The governor is working at the moment with the leaders of the [Assembly] and Senate to come up with a plan that will be a balanced budget,” he said.
Even with the combination of tax