by Calculated Risk on 1/09/2011 02:15:00 PM

From the LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown wants to tame budget with tax extensions, deep cuts

To tame the state's chronic budget shortfalls, the Democratic governor will request cuts in a broad array of state programs and services, particularly those that lend a hand to the needy, according to those familiar with his plan.

He will call on lawmakers to sharply curb welfare spending by reducing eligibility and payouts and cutting the duration of benefits from five years to four. Under Brown's plan, Medi-Cal would let patients see the doctor less often and would require them to pay more when they do. Children in the state's Healthy Families insurance program would no longer receive vision coverage, and their families would pay more for medical care.

The governor will also ask voters to approve an extension of 2009 tax hikes on their incomes, purchases and vehicles in a spring special election, insiders say, and he will tie the tax extension to protecting school funding.

The Sacramento Bee has many of the details. And the LA Times has an interactive tool California budget balancer

State and local government budgets (and debt) will be significant issue all across the country in 2011. I'm especially pessimistic about California - it would take a miracle to make any progress.