California: An unexpected bump in revenue

State revenue has rocketed far beyond projections, providing a $6.6 billion windfall that Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use to boost education spending and help repair California’s battered finances.

In the revised budget plan Brown releases Monday morning, education spending would increase by about $3 billion over what he proposed in January. But Brown still hopes to maintain tax increases that are due to expire this year.

The governor's budget says the revenue surge, which erases a substantial chunk of what had been a $15-billion deficit, is not enough to put the state in the black.

Lawmakers are required by law to divert a substantial portion of any revenue spike to schools, unless they suspend the state funding formula, which Brown is not proposing.

The governor’s plan calls for use of the remaining extra revenue to scale back his proposed tax increases and to restore a state program that provides tax credits to businesses that hire workers from blighted neighborhoods, among other things.

The plan also calls for the elimination of 43 boards and commissions, several of which pay six-figure salaries to their members and have been labeled patronage posts by critics.

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