Governor Jerry Brown signs California’s next year’s budget

SAN DIEGO (AP) – California has a new spending plan. Governor Jerry Brown was in San Diego on Friday to sign next year’s budget.
    In keeping with Governor Jerry Brown’s, low-key persona for someone in his position, he chose the small, non-descript city hall press room for the occasion. It was newly elected assembly speaker, Atkins, who put a theme on the occasion. A brighter day for California, after so many dark days during the budget crisis’s of the great recession. He says, “things are getting better for k-12 schools. New funding paid back some money to things brighter for children whose families are struggling to work their way out of poverty.”
    After years of neglect, the 156 billion dollar budget and 108-billion general fund discretionary spending, addresses school funding, including the so-called local control funding formula. The formula is based on the number of children from lower income families and based on 
the number of children who do not speak English at home.
    Governor Brown also touted a start toward reducing 74 billion dollars in unfunded teacher pension liabilities, paying down debt incurred during the Swarzenegger Administration and a “rainy day fund.” There were the inevitable questions about the Governor’s controversial push for the bullet train. “We have lawsuits, we have complaints, but I want to contrast us with China. China this year will complete a thousand mile to Tibet, they have six thousand miles in all, California doesn’t have one mile,” said Governor Brown.
    There were questions about revenue projections. For example, are the governor’s economists being more optimistic than they should?  The Governor’s answer included this, “that’s why were paying down so much debt, less debt service is part of the equation.”