Abstract

California’s budget politics were temporarily sidetracked by an increasingly severe statewide drought, forcing the state to take action. Democratic lawmakers elected new leadership, who, like their predecessors, argued the state should increase social spending. The major budget clash centered on California’s booming economy and what to do with a large projected tax surplus. The legislature wanted to spend the revenue, while Governor Jerry Brown downplayed the fiscal estimates and wanted to squirrel away the extra money in the state’s new rainy-day fund. Brown sparred with the University of California over UC’s increasing reliance on out-of-state students to fund the university, limiting the number of spots for California students.