(Governor) Brown has steadfastly refused to detail what should happen if voters reject those taxes. (Treasurer) Lockyer was not so shy, saying there would be no way to balance the books without shutting down the K-12 public school system at least six weeks of the school year. (boldface mine--Darren)
Lockyer said Brown has been reluctant to outline such grim possibilities for fear of alienating a skeptical public.
"You can't seem to be threatening voters," Lockyer said.
The governor wants to hold a special election in June, seeking approval from the voters to extend some taxes that are due to expire. If the election were held today, conventional wisdom seems to be that they would not pass. On the other hand, Brown hasn't even started selling it to the public yet. Even given the threat above, there's no way I'll vote for those tax increases/extensions absent some serious, long-term spending cuts.
My guess is that Brown is counting on a low turnout in a special election and that if he can mobilize the people who will be most affected by budget cuts (public employees)that he has a good chance of carrying the issue.
ReplyDeleteProbably not a bad strategy. Hope they have a back up plan if it doesn't work.