Matthew DeBord from Southern California Public Radio reports that California is over ten times more in debt than the $28 billion figure Governor Brown stated when he went into office. Among the commonly stated reasons for this, one of note is that the State's tax system relies far too much on the incomes of the wealthy, and in particular on income derived from capital gains.

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Joel Engel of Legal Insurrection theorizes that the defeat of Proposition 29 (which would add a $1 tax to cigarettes) last year, a tax that would only have affected the 15% of the population that smokes cigarettes, is a clear sign that Californian's tolerance for new taxes of any form has been exhausted. This should indicate Governor Brown's Proposition 30 will fight an uphill battle in November.

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Los Angeles Times reports the plan Gov. Jerry Brown and fellow Democrats are championing to contain government worker pensions in California could leave state taxpayers awash in debt to public employees. Leading analyst are saying far more aggressive action — including reduction of benefits for hundreds of thousands of current employees left untouched by Brown's proposal — will be needed to get runaway retirement costs under control.

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Los Angeles Times reports that in his struggle to find greater sources of revenue, Governor Brown has opted for tax increases via quarter-cent hike in sales taxes and an increase of 1 to 3 percentage points on higher individual income after assurances from business leaders that they would not proactively fight his Proposition 30 plan, even if they didn't agree with it.

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The Los Angeles Times reports California's parks system stashed away nearly $54 million even as it was cutting services and threatening to close parks, a revelation that prompted the resignation of the department's director Friday.

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