Jerry Brown's first term as California governor - Part I

Jerry Brown was elected governor of California in Nov. 1974, succeeding Ronald Reagan. He quickly attracted national attention as these news clips illustrate. Brown was noted for his presidential ambitions, his "small is beautiful" philosophy, and fiscal conservatism. Part I contains news clips covering those issues. Part II also covers Brown's controversial appointment of Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court and his opposition to the death penalty. The state's budget surplus later became an issue in the campaign for Proposition 13 in 1978. The fact that the state was running a surplus as local property tax bills rose rapidly was a factor in the vote for Prop 13. On the other hand, the accumulated surplus at the state level initially helped the bailing out of local governments as Prop 13 reduced their property tax revenues.

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