With July 1st, the beginning of the new fiscal year, drawing closer, Governor Jerry Brown expressed his concern that a tax deal still will not be finalized by the due date. Currently, the Democrats and the Republicans are in a heated stand-off, blaming each other for the lack of progress that is occurring (York). Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, abandoned the negotiations concerning the federal debt limit after becoming overwhelmingly frustrated that the Democrats who were pushing for the increase believe a tax increase must coincide (Hulse). Because both parties are at extreme odds with each other over several matters, many experts are becoming increasingly skeptical that any deadlines will be met with final decisions. .
Brown issued a historic veto of Democrats' budget plan last week, buying time to gain the GOP support he needs for his own budget plan, which includes a tax referendum in the fall. Brown saw the spending plan as "unbalanced" because the Democrats relied heavily on spotty accounting to smooth over the state's deficit (Goldmacher).
"It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt," the governor said in his veto message. He refused to sign the package saying it "contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings" (Goldmacher). .
However, Brown blames the Democrats for the veto because they knowingly included measures that Brown had previously announced he would never sign into law, such as higher taxes without voter approval and accounting sleight-of-hand. The Democrats' plan included raising local sales tax and reviving the sale of state buildings that Brown had previously deemed too costly (Goldmacher). .
The main reason Brown is having such trouble finding someone to back his plan is because he wants to extend sales and vehicle taxes - two matters that Republicans strongly oppose.