Faced with huge deficit, Brown proposes sharp budget cuts*

It's pretty bad - furloughs for state workers, four-day work weeks, another reduction in funding for the UC system, and sharp trims in health and welfare spending are among the big cuts proposed by the governor in his May revision. The additional cuts are the result of a budget deficit that has ballooned to $16 $15.7 billion from the earlier estimate of $9.2 billion. And the cuts might be even more drastic if voters turn down his proposed tax increases in November. From the LAT:

The gap grew, the budget revision states, because Brown over-estimated tax revenues by $4.3 billion and the federal government and courts blocked $1.7 billion in cuts the state wanted to make. The remainder of the difference reflects an increase in the amount of money the state is mandated to spend on education under a complex voter-approved formula.

From Capitol Alert:

In a quirk of state budget law, even though revenues are down, the requirement for funding K-12 schools and community colleges will go up next school year. It is not entirely clear what this will mean for K-12 school districts, most of which are already laying off teachers and increasing class sizes because they are assuming a worst-case scenario in which voters will reject the governor's tax initiative. Brown previously asked districts not to do that, and his new budget lays out an alternative path in which he wants them to cut three weeks of school across the next two school years - averaging a week and a half in each year - if his tax measure fails.

So far, not much reaction from the legislature. But look for pushback from both sides of the aisle - the Republicans because they object to tax increases and the Democrats because they object to additional cuts.

*Here's the governor's budget revision.