Calif. State Senators Question Proposed Spending Cuts

California Senators are questioning Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal to cut back state spending and the revenue projections that proposal is based on. The Senate budget committee met for its first hearing on the plan Tuesday.

The Brown Administration projects that, with no cuts, the state will face a $2 billion deficit next year, due in part to slowing revenue. In response, the governor has proposed cutting more than $3 billion of planned spending.

Senate budget chair Holly Mitchell took exception to where those cuts would occur.

"'Solutions' can also be framed as really broken commitments," she says. "Some of the solutions you’ve identified are agreements that the Legislature, the Administration arrived at through budget negotiations."

Democratic lawmakers in recent years have negotiated rate increases for child care providers and funding for affordable housing and a state-funded college scholarship program—all of which Brown targets.

Senators also questioned whether the cuts are necessary. The state’s non-partisan fiscal analyst has rosier budget projections than Brown. Although, that analyst also suggested lawmakers bank extra money into state reserves.