Listen to Ben's full interview with Governor Brown:
The governor says there's a lot on the line with Proposition
30. He won't rule out future budget cuts if the measure
passes, but insists California will be far better off.
Brown: "As people go into the
voting booth or fill out their absentee ballot, all they have to
say is, look - have our schools taken enough cuts yet?"
He says the tax increases in Prop 30 are reasonable…
Brown: "It's just pretty simple:
If you buy a $4 sandwich, could you pay another penny? 'Cause
that's what we're talking about."
… and he says he'll veto any attempt to reverse the automatic trigger cuts in the state budget if the measure fails.
Brown: "The cuts to the schools,
to the colleges, that's baked into the budget. And if 'Yes on
30' passes, those cuts don't happen. If the 'No' people
prevail, then we get the cuts."
But David Wolfe with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association says the governor should re-think his priorities and make sure education gets funded - without new taxes.
Wolfe: "There's been no reforms:
minimal pension reform, high-speed rail being built in the middle
of the Central Valley with track that's not electrified. It's
hard to justify $50 billion in higher taxes when you can't make the
reforms to control spending."
Polls show the measure with about 50 percent support.