Lt. Gov. Newsom Criticizes Gov. Brown's Presentation Of Prop 30
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling out Gov. Jerry Brown in a scathing radio interview.
Newsom says the governor is misleading voters about Proposition 30, the governor's initiative to raise taxes.
Brown has taken more than a few shots from critics over the decades, but he can find his most vocal critic lately just steps away at the capitol, behind the door that says "Lieutenant Governor."
"We gotta be more cautious in politics. You can't do that," Newsom said in the radio interview.
Sounding like a crusty politician schooling a younger colleague, it was Newsom unloading on the elder statesmen, Brown in a KGO radio interview from two weeks ago.
"Well he's not happy with me," Newsom said.
Brown's no doubt less happy after his lieutenant governor accused him of misrepresenting Prop 30, a proposed tax hike the governor says is needed to prevent tuition increases at CSU and UC campuses.
"My big concern is we went down yesterday and said there won't be a tuition increase if you support this, that's just not true," Newsom said to KGO.
Newsom, who sits on the UC Board of Regents and CSU Board of Trustees, says tuition will likely increase next school year even if Prop 30 passes.
"You can't say things like that, and I don't mean this as an indictment on the governor but I know for a fact that we are going to be discussing tuition increases at CSU and UC level shortly after the election," Newsome said.
Our veteran political analyst Steven Maviglio says this is just "Gavin being Gavin."
"One thing about the lieutenant governor, he's a straight shooter and he calls it how it is. I think what he said, even though he supports Prop 30, is that there's going to be a fee increase. The only difference here is, whether we have a massive fee increase, or is it going to be small," said Maviglio.
In the radio interview, Newsom went on to say he supports the governor's tax measure, but not the way it's being packaged.
"We have to be honest," he said. "This thing is barely holding on and it requires voracity."
Recent polls show support for Prop 30 is dropping with 49 percent of voters saying they'd vote yes. Just last month, support was in the high 50s.
