Press Release: Bay Area Council Endorses Governor Brown’s Budget Proposal
The Bay Area Council today announced its support for Governor Brown’s proposed budget package designed to close the state’s $26.6 billion budget deficit. The decision was made this afternoon after Governor Brown met with members of the Council’s Executive Committee at Bank of America’s California headquarters.
“The talk we had with the Governor was tough, but the experience was profoundly refreshing because it was honest,” said Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council. “California’s budgets of the recent past have violated every principle of fiscal responsibility by conjuring up billions of dollars in fake revenues and pushing hard decisions off until ‘next year.’ The day of reckoning has finally arrived, and the only way through it is with a spirit of shared sacrifice and grownup behavior. We don’t like everything in this proposal. Our members don’t like the higher taxes, which run counter to expanding business and jobs in the state. But on balance, we need to be part of the solution and we support the Governor’s proposal overall.”
In addition to offering its support, the Bay Area Council’s Executive Committee also strongly urged Governor Brown to back pension, long-term budget and regulatory reform with an emphasis on the California Environmental Quality Act.
“For the success of our business, the most important thing is a healthy economy,” said Janet Lamkin, Bank of America California state president and vice chair of the Bay Area Council. “We need a healthy state government and fiscal stability for economic growth.”
Governor Brown has asked the Legislature to approve his budget proposal by March 10th, so the Council’s Executive Committee felt compelled to act now and announce their support.
PDF Press Release
Meeting and Press Conference Photos
Video of the Press Conference
