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Legislative leaders ‘dismayed’ by Gov. Brown’s budget veto

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State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) expressed disappointment in the leadership of Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, after Thursday morning’s veto of the budget package lawmakers sent him less than 24 hours earlier. It was a new tone for the legislative leaders, who until Thursday have avoided criticizing Brown.

‘We are deeply dismayed by the governor’s decision,’ Steinberg said. It ‘is apparently part of some elaborate strategy to force a confrontation.’

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Steinberg said the reality of the situation is that the governor’s budget plan relies on GOP votes that Brown has tried and failed to secure for six months. He said it was time to move on. He demanded that Brown make clear how he plans to balance the budget if Republicans continue to stand firm into the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Perez concurred. ‘Over the last six months we have moved heaven and Earth to pass the governor’s plan,’ he said. ‘When he failed to get the needed Republican votes we did the most responsible thing we could do.... Yesterday’s budget was the best hope California had for economic recovery.... We stand by the actions we took.’

‘Quite frankly, his action is dismaying,’ he said.

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-- Evan Halper in Sacramento

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