Calif. Legislature passes $96.3B Democratic budget
Calif. Legislature passes $96.3B Democratic budget
JUDY LIN, Associated Press, By JUDY LIN and JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press | June 14, 2013 | Updated: June 14, 2013 7:24pm
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Legislature passed California's massive state spending plan Friday amid sharp divisions over whether the compromise struck by Democrats and Gov. Jerry Brown will further the state's recovery or eventually return it to the multibillion-dollar deficits common during the recession.
Lawmakers had until midnight Saturday to send the governor a balanced budget for the fiscal year that begins in July, but they acted swiftly after the state's top Democrats reached a deal earlier in the week. Both houses approved the main budget bill, AB110, on party-line votes: 28-10 in the Senate and 54-25 in the Assembly.
They will reconvene Saturday to vote on roughly 15 bills that will enact specific parts of the budget.
Senate leader Darrell Steinberg said the $96.3 billion Democratic spending plan ends the "doom-and-gloom" scenarios that were a hallmark of years past, when deficits grew into the double digits, state programs were eliminated, workers were furloughed and budget deadlines were blown by weeks and sometimes months.
"The passage of the budget may just represent the end of one very difficult era and the beginning of a new and better era — an era of economic growth, hope and restoration," said Steinberg, a Democrat from Sacramento.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Calif-Legislature-passes-96-3B-Democratic-budget-4600241.php
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