Did California Gov. Jerry Brown Compare Himself to Jesus?
Did California Gov. Jerry Brown Compare Himself to Jesus?
By Vauhini Vara
Gov. Jerry Brown, asked Friday by a reporter in San Francisco about The Wall Street Journal’s report that he has met quietly with California Republicans who may support his budget plan, said he doesn’t read the Journal and declined to confirm any Republicans he is talking with privately.
“I’m not going to blow their cover,” he said.
Then he playfully mentioned the biblical story of Nicodemus, a Pharisee who is said to have visited Jesus in the middle of the night to avoid raising eyebrows among his colleagues. The governor compared the New Testament tale to his secret discussions with Republican legislators.
Mr. Brown attended a Jesuit seminary in his youth and has often evoked Christian thought, quoting philosophers like St. Augustine and St. Ignatius.
“It was a humorous aside taken from scripture,” the governor’s press secretary said. “The governor spent almost four years in seminary and he knows the ‘Good Book’ very well.”
Lawmakers are expected to vote this week on a budget plan to close the state’s $26.6 billion budget gap. Mr. Brown has proposed $12.8 billion in cuts and fund shifts. He also wants the legislature to approve a ballot measure proposing extensions of several tax increases, which, along with other taxes, would raise $14 billion in the eighteen months ending June 30, 2012.
The Journal reported this week that some Republicans may support Mr. Brown’s plan if lawmakers also make policy changes in areas such as public pensions and regulations.
One suggestion Republicans have raised is changing pension rules for current employees. That’s controversial because state law is believed to prevent the government from changing current employees’ benefits, such as the retirement age at which they get full pension benefits, but some believe California could take advantage of a loophole in that law.
“It’s very difficult to change pension rules for existing employees,” said Mr. Brown at the press conference, mentioning that some other options include raising current employees’ pension contributions and boosting the retirement age for new hires. But, he added, “I don’t shut the door on anything. I’m open to suggestions.”
Some have also raised the possibility of a measure that would ask for a shorter tax extension of, say, two years. Mr. Brown said that would be difficult because part of the tax extension is expected to fund a realignment of state and local services, which would likely take more time. It’s also expected to take five years for the economy to rebound, he said.
Mr. Brown said it will be difficult to find a middle ground in crafting a budget plan with certain policy concessions, so that two-thirds of the legislature—including Democrats and Republicans—approve it. State law requires a two-thirds vote to put a tax-extension measure on the ballot.
“You can go a certain degree and you keep the Democrats,” he said. “If you go too far, you lose them.”
Mr. Brown’s comments came at a press conference following an endorsement of his budget plan by the Bay Area Council, a San Francisco-based business group.
Jim Wunderman, the head of the council, said the group “wholeheartedly” supports the governor’s plan but urged the governor to make changes to the public-pension system and regulations.
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