Governor Signs Budget Agreement

Sacramento, CA — Governor Jerry Brown puts his signature on a budget agreement that he says is balanced, on-time budget that saves billions of dollars and pays down debt, while directing more resources to schools and low-income Californians.

The spending plan uses California’s increased surplus to pay for new anti-poverty initiatives, which included an earned income tax credit for working-poor families, boosting the number of state-subsidized childcare slots along with expanding health care coverage to children who are in the country illegally.

The budget includes an amnesty program for residents slapped with repeated court and traffic fines, but no money to pay the piling debt.

As previously reported, the Governor and Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins hammered out a deal last week, after Brown called on the legislature to show more fiscal restraint.  The final deal that passed was a $115.4 billion budget. (Click here for an earlier story outlining the agreement.)