Gov. Jerry Brown signed the budget bill Monday for the coming fiscal year, fully embracing a package his office played a major role in shaping and making no blue-pencil reductions to individual spending items in the plan.

The governor’s signature came on the final day for him to act on the measure, which the Legislature approved along mostly party lines June 15, along with several related budget trailer bills. The measure calls for $122.5 billion in general fund spending and $44.6 billion in special fund spending, along with $3.6 billion in bond spending.

“This solid budget makes responsible investments in California and sets aside billions of dollars to prepare for the next recession,” Brown said of the plan for the fiscal year beginning Friday.

The lack of any spending vetoes breaks with budget practice. Even when governors and lawmakers agree on a budget pact, Brown and other governors typically veto millions of dollars in spending, sometimes much more.

The main budget bill, Senate Bill 826, appropriates money. Lawmakers also have acted on several of the trailer bills that reflect related changes in law.

But other trailer measures remain on the to-do list. Both houses have yet to act on natural resources and energy trailer bills, with the resources bill passed by the Assembly differing in some key respects from the resources measures that advanced in the Senate on Monday. The differences include a ban on killer whales in captivity and changes in how manufacturers of after-market devices for motorcycles get clearance from the California Air Resources Board.

Lawmakers also have yet to act on legislation allowing the state to borrow $2 billion against the state’s mental health services tax on millionaires. Democrats announced a deal Monday with Assembly Republicans to ensure the two-thirds vote. (Source: The Sacramento Bee)

Story Date: July 1, 2016