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Democrats set to unveil revised budget plan

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Democratic leaders in Sacramento will unveil a revised and more detailed budget plan Tuesday, seven weeks after the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to approve a spending plan.

Senate President Pro Tem. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Monday the plan would include deeper cuts while maintaining the call in earlier Democratic proposals to suspend about $2 billion corporate tax breaks. The proposal includes an oil production tax and also contains a mixture of high income taxes and lower sales taxes which Steinberg is labeling as “tax reform.” Many of those proposals were outlined in a column by George Skelton last week.

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“We recognize as Democrats that cuts are necessary,” Steinberg said Monday, describing the continuing gulf between Democrats and Republicans on the budget. “But the other side, they seem to view cuts as a virtue in and of themselves. That is the difference between us. We see cuts as a necessity, not a virtue. We should be trying to save as much education investment as we can.”

Steinberg said the plan will be unveiled in a press conference with himself and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) on Tuesday in Sacramento. But he said he believes the proposal finds the “sweet spot” between cuts, new revenues and maintaining investment in education and social safety-net programs.

--Anthony York in Sacramento

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