Frustrated Gov. Brown Turns Back to California Labor Base
SACRAMENTO (KCBS) - Seemingly fed up with Republican opposition to his budget ideas, California Governor Jerry Brown was poised to mobilize union members to help elect more Democrats to the state Legislature.
It was welcome news to the Democratic leadership.
Previously, the governor appeared determined to win enough Republican votes to pass his tax plan. However, when the state Senate GOP killed his jobs bill last week, it was the last straw for Brown, who subsequently delivered a biting partisan speech to a union convention in Las Vegas.
On the heels of his Las Vegas union convention speech, the governor planned to rally union nurses at their convention in San Francisco on Wednesday.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
With Republicans standing firm, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said the only way to increase revenue would be to go to the voters next year.
"Don't build your agenda on a series of two-thirds vote measures, don't do it," said Steinberg. "And you know, there are some things you can't do without a two-thirds but do everything you can without relying on that threshold because that's just not where the minority party is right now."
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