Previewing “The May Revise”: BROWN WILL SEEK ‘SERIOUS CUTS’ IN CALIFORNIA BUDGET PLAN

By Michael B. Marois and James Nash,  Bloomberg News | http://buswk.co/IWkJdi

May 02, 2012   ::  California Governor Jerry Brown said he’ll propose “very serious cuts” when he unveils his revised budget in two weeks, after state tax revenue fell $3.1 billion below his projections.

The 74-year-old Democrat was already facing a $9.2 billion deficit before the shortfall made it worse. Income-tax revenue in April alone trailed his budget estimate by $2 billion.

The governor of the most populous U.S. state is seeking a voter initiative to temporarily raise income taxes and sales levies to help offset further cuts. California has fought deficits every year since 2007 as the longest recession since the Depression reduced tax collections.

“On May 14, I’m going to present a balanced budget proposal with very serious cuts,” Brown said in an interview in Los Angeles. He declined to specify areas that may bear the biggest reductions, saying much depends on the fate of his November ballot initiative.

“This is a budget proposal that will work,” Brown said. “It will balance the budget and it will contain more cuts than taxes.”