Gov. Jerry Brown rallies Sacramento students for Prop. 30
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Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday urged students to back Proposition 30, his November tax initiative, saying the measure would stop years of cuts to community colleges.
Speaking to about 200 students at a courtyard rally at Sacramento City College, Brown cast California as the capital of innovation and education as its cornerstone.
‘Education has to be No. 1,’ he said. ‘But when the whole pot of money gets smaller, then everything gets cut. ...This is a crucial opportunity.’
The governor’s proposal would levy a four-year, quarter-cent rise in the state sales tax and a seven-year hike in income tax rates for those who make more than $250,000. If it fails, the UC and Cal State systems each could face $250 million in midyear budget cuts that officials say would lead to substantial fee increases for the winter and spring terms. Community colleges would take a $340-million hit.
‘Most of the money is going to come from the top,’ he told the cheering crowd, emphasizing levies on upper-income earners and quoting the Bible. ‘For whom much is given, much is called for and much will be asked.’
‘It’s fair, it’s needed and it’s balanced,’ he added. ‘Everybody puts in a little bit.’
VOTER GUIDE: 2012 California Propositions
Brown reminded the crowd that Californians can now register to vote online.
He delivered similar remarks to students at a UCLA rally Tuesday. The events mark a return to the hustings for Brown, who hadn’t held a campaign event for his tax initiative since Aug. 30.
Polls show Proposition 30 clinging to a narrow lead, but those surveys were taken before a newly financed opposition campaign began airing ads against the measure.
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-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento