Williams More Mellow than Counterparts about Brown’s Budget Veto

Democratic Assemblymember Das Williams is not voicing the same outrage as his party leaders over Governor Jerry Brown’s decision last week to veto the state budget document passed on strict party lines. “This was a muddle-through budget,” Williams said, and the best that Democrats could hope to achieve without any Republican support. Democrats proposed a budget with $11.5 billion in cuts, but lacked any Republican support for the tax extensions that Brown and the Democrats insist are necessary. Williams has insisted that K-12 schools be spared the brunt of budget cuts, noting that public education has already been cut by a third over the past three years. Republicans have opposed any budget with tax increases; likewise they have insisted on spending caps and pension changes that would reduce the state’s financial obligation to retired employees.