Comment on Brown pursues lasting policy legacy in California

Brown pursues lasting policy legacy in California

After sidelining opponents and steadying the state's finances, the quirky 76-year-old Democrat is looking to put his stamp on the state's water and transportation infrastructure and playing statesman on global climate change, recently addressing a UN Climate Change conference. Brown's relative success at wresting control of the state's once-massive budget deficit and his skill at distancing himself from political controversies have helped him eclipse his 1970s reputation as the "moonbeam" governor. Few in California think it's likely, partly because he is still working to secure a legacy as governor that is at least equal to that of his father, a former governor who built the state's water system that is now in need of an overhaul amid California's historic drought. Jerry Brown is a "serial achiever" who has an unconventional political style and is unconcerned with pretense, said Darrell Steinberg, outgoing leader of the state Senate and a fellow Democrat who has worked with Brown on all his major policy issues over the past four years. Republicans nearly unanimously endorsed his water bond proposal and GOP leaders have praised his fiscal restraint. Brown led the campaign to persuade voters to approve temporary increases in the statewide sales tax and income taxes on high earners in 2012. The Legislature approved Brown's plan to overhaul the education funding system to send more money to high-need schools and his restructuring of state prisons to allow lower-level offenders to go to county jails instead of state lock-ups.

 

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