Skelton: For Jerry Brown, taxes and pensions are linked

Gov. Jerry Brown has tried to frame his tax campaign as a simple question -- should the wealthy pay more to help support California schools?

But George Skelton says in his Thursday column that the campaign is about much more than that.

"It’s about whether they should send Sacramento more tax money," he writes. "It’s about how the politicians have been spending what they’ve already got and whether they can be trusted with billions more."

Brown knows that, Skelton says, and that's why he's pushing lawmakers to reduce pension benefits before the Legislature adjourns on Friday.

Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said the pension plan is “a major step in reassuring voters that government is not wasting their money — and a message that the governor is addressing their concerns.”

All of Skelton's columns are here.

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Photo: Gov. Jerry Brown campaigns for higher taxes at a middle school in San Francisco on Aug. 22. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press