California budget: Brown says he remains focused on GOP support

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Gov. Jerry Brown made a quick swing through an agricultural show on the steps of the state Capitol on Wednesday and was swarmed by reporters seeking his take on the budget impasse.

“I heard there was a taco out here,” said Brown, surrounded by cameras and microphones amid a steady drizzle.

The Democratic governor said “time is running out” for GOP lawmakers to strike a deal to place a tax measure on the June ballot. He dodged questions about whether he was seeking to place an initiative on a November ballot or pursue a legally dubious plan to put the question to voters in June with a simple legislative majority, therefore cutting out the GOP.

Brown said he could only confirm he was “not unconsidering” anything. “Whichever way I look, I see bears in the forest,” he said.

He said he remained focused on courting Republicans, awaiting a “term sheet” from negotiating GOP legislators with whom he continues to meet.

“What does it take to get Republican votes?” Brown said. “That’s the question.”

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento