The Governor's Blue Pencil

Governor signs budget deal, but gets out the blue pencil.

by Brian Leubitz

The Governor, being of the same party as the Legislative majority, wouldn't be expected to axe a lot of the line items.  However, out it came for $195 million worth.

Gov. Jerry Brown used his line-item veto authority to strike $128.9 million in spending from the $91.3 billion general fund state budget he signed, his office reported today.

Brown vetoed another $66.8 million in spending from special funds and federal funds, for a total veto amount of $195.7 million.

The Democratic governor's cuts affect child care and preschool for low-income children and Cal Grant scholarship aid at private schools, two areas that Brown wanted lawmakers to slash deeper than they did. (SacBee)

CalGrants got a big cut, with a 5% cut off the top. Higher education is getting more and more out of reach of the middle class. So, hooray for that extra cut, huh?