California's Budget Negotiations Halted By Governor

California Governor Jerry Brown has released a statement in regards to budget negotiations he halted yesterday. Brown writes, “Much is at stake, and 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.” According to the statement, while he was striving to make progress on the budget, the Republicans continually demanded points detrimental to a balanced budget. The demands of the Republicans would create a $4 billion hole in the budget. Another point stressed in the statement is the Republicans' demand to give out-of-state corporations a billion dollar tax break. These corporations do not provide jobs to Californians, and the funds lost from this tax break would affect local schools, public safety and universities. Governor Brown is in support of reform proposals, such as pension reform, regulatory reform and a spending cap. Governor Brown felt compelled to halt negotiations because he could not gain the approval from two Republicans from both the Senate and the Assembly required to pose the budget to a vote from the people of California.