California's non-partisan legislative analyst is praising Governor Jerry Brown for the fiscal discipline he showed in his budget proposal. But he's not quite endorsing Brown's proclamation last week that the state's deficit has been erased.
It's not that Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said the governor's deficit projection is right or wrong. It's that in the grand scheme of things these days, it doesn't make much of a difference - because, Taylor said, the budget is "roughly in balance."
"We're in a very different situation than we have been the last ten, twelve years - when at this time, we would usually be sitting around and talking about $20, $25, $30 billion deficits and what are our differences in the numbers between the administration and us."
So given that, Taylor said the fiscal restraint in the governor's budget is "commendable." And he thinks Brown's proposed school funding overhaul deserves a good look. But he's also concerned about parts of the budget - especially the way the governor wants to use money raised by the newly-approved Proposition 39. And he's warning that external factors like the fiscal cliff in Washington could change everything
