California budget talks collapse

• March 7th, 2011 5:48 pm PT

The five Republican state senators who have been negotiating with California’s Democratic Governor Jerry Brown have thrown in the towel, declaring that the talks have reached an impasse. In a letter from the five to the governor that was released today, the senators said that Brown had engaged them in talks in a serious manner, but that it was clear he was unable to get what they called “other stakeholders” to agree to reforms necessary to “create jobs, require responsible state spending, eliminate abusive pension practices, and implement meaningful governmental reforms.” The state faces a shortfall of over $25 billion, and Brown, in his second stint in the governor’s office, is proposing a combination of budget cuts and tax increases and tax extensions to close the gap.

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