Jerry Brown on Univision

(video starts at 0:11)

Interviewer:

Next Thursday it appears that the $19 billion budget of the State of California is not going to be resolved. There is not going to be a balanced budget. They are going to break for the Fourth of July holiday and there is no resolution by the Legislators in Sacramento. What does that -- I mean, how would you -- when you look at this situation, how big and how the problem is -- maybe it can't be resolved? Maybe the budget -- it is a very gigantic problem that cannot be resolved by just saying that I am going to resolve it. Specifically -- specifically, how would you resolve such a problem?

Jerry Brown:

Alright, number one, unlike Mrs. Whitman, I would not cut the capital gains tax, which will take $5 billion away from state government -- from our schools, from our police and fire departments. She wants to give a gigantic tax break, most of which will go to the wealthiest people in our state. So that's what I won't do.

Secondly, I have a record. When I was governor -- Reagan was the governor before me, he flew around in a private jet, his wife prepared a great public mansion for him. I rejected the mansion. I got rid of the private jet. I flew on regular, coach airways. And I rented an apartment with my own money. So I have a sense of frugality.

I'd start cutting the governor's budget significantly. I'd take away the perks and many of the benefits from the Legislature. I'd look all throughout government.

But I wouldn't start in June. I would start in November. If I'm
elected, right after the election, I'm going to call all 120
Legislators together and I'm going to create a process that's
transparent, that's thorough, that may even be exhausting. I want each one of them to own the problem. And I want to go throughout the state -- I want the people to know.

I'm going to break up the issues into: higher education, kindergarten through 12th grade, prisons, highways, medical care for the poor. I want to break it up into maybe five, or maybe ten categories, and then talk to the people.

And ultimately, if we can't get those Legislators to align spending with revenue, we're going to go to the people in a vote, like a referendum. We'll give them some choices. We need our instructions from the people to tell us what we should do. I'm not going to wait until June or July. We have to start in November. We can't -- I won't let the Legislators do other bills. I'm going to focus them on grappling with education, with crime, with highways, with medical care for the poor.

And day after day, I personally - not through staff, but with staff -- I will meet with those Legislators in groups of 12, groups of 50, all 120 of them until we resolve it. And we will get it done. I make that commitment.

I have the knowledge, I have the skill. And I will push that
Legislature. And then, to the extent that they're frozen, that they just can't get together, I will go to the people and seek votes on key issues -- whether to cut, or to find whatever other solution the people would think best. We'll do it after the greatest and most extensive democratic dialogue, debate, and conversation that this state has ever witnessed.

Category:

News & Politics

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• Jerry Brown
• governor
• california
• Univision