SAN FRANCISCO – Governor Jerry Brown today announced that the Bay Area Council, which represents more than 275 of the largest employers in the region, has endorsed his budget plan.
“The Bay Area Council has made a very important endorsement for this balanced package of cuts, tax extensions and realignment,” said Governor Brown. “I am proposing a very clear three-point plan to realign government and return more planning and funding to the local level; cut our state budget drastically because we don’t have enough money and; seek a temporary extension of taxes. I will continue to reach out to legislators on both sides of the aisle to find common ground and put this balanced proposal to a vote of the people.”
“The talk we had with the Governor was tough, but the experience was profoundly refreshing because it was honest,” said Bay Area Council President & CEO Jim Wunderman. “California’s budgets of the recent past have violated every principle of fiscal responsibility by conjuring up billions of dollars in fake revenues and pushing hard decisions off until next year.’ The day of reckoning has finally arrived, and the only way through it is with a spirit of shared sacrifice and grownup behavior. We don’t like everything in this proposal. Our members don’t like the higher taxes, which run counter to expanding business and jobs in the state. But on balance, we need to be part of the solution and we support the Governor’s proposal overall.”
Today’s endorsement follows support from other business organizations across the state, including the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA), the California Association of Independent Business (CAIB), and the Central City Association of Los Angeles.