California budget: Talks stall between Jerry Brown, GOP

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Talks between Gov. Jerry Brown and a group of Republican lawmakers looking for a budget compromise hit a wall this weekend, and no further talks with the five lawmakers are scheduled.

Brown spokesman Gil Duran tried to put a positive spin on the latest developments, saying the governor is ‘continuing to talk with Republican legislators.’ But a spokesman for one of the senators who had been negotiating with Brown through the weekend said no meetings with those five lawmakers are scheduled.

Joe Justin, spokesman for Sen. Bill Emmerson (R-Hemet), spoke of the negotiations in the past tense Monday, blaming opposition from labor union leaders to changes in the state pension system and a cap on future government spending. ‘The governor put in a lot of hard work with us and we appreciate the opportunity to do that work. Unfortunately, the power of the public employee labor unions is now undisputed. On issues of pension reform and a hard spending cap they couldn’t get there.’

Brown wants Republican support for a June election that would ask voters to extend billions in sales, income and vehicle taxes for an additional five years. No Republicans have yet said they support Brown’s plan.

Stay tuned to PolitiCal for more California budget updates.

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-- Anthony York in Sacramento