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Lawmakers from both sides criticize plan Senate leader John Burton, D-San Francisco, said Davis needed to make more cuts in the Department of Corrections' $5.3 billion budget. When asked if the Legislature would heed Davis' call to pass a budget bill on time, Burton said: ``June 15? I wouldn't want to bet my grandson's life on it.'' Republicans rejected Davis' plan outright because of the tax increases and said it reflected a failure of leadership. ``Republicans will not vote for a budget that increases taxes on the hard-working families of California. It's an issue on which we will not compromise,'' said Assembly GOP leader Dave Cox of Sacramento. In January, Davis estimated the budget shortfall through June 2004 at $34.6 billion. To bring it into balance, Democrat Davis proposed raising income taxes on the wealthy, boosting cigarette taxes $1.10 per pack and raising the sales tax by one cent, with those proceeds -- roughly $8 billion -- being shifted to local government to pay for a variety of social service programs. The governor also called on the Legislature to make more than $10 billion in immediate budget cuts and savings. But in the ensuing months, lawmakers sliced only $6.9 billion. Meanwhile, events forced Davis to all but rip up his first draft. First, because of the shaky condition of tobacco companies he decided he couldn't count on $2 billion he had expected to borrow against tobacco settlement funds. Also, Davis had thought he'd be able to extract $1.5 billion from Indian casinos in exchange for more slot machines. In the face of stiff opposition, he had to scale that down to $680 million. New tax bracket Davis' revised budget includes a new 10.3 percent tax bracket on single earners making $150,000 or more and a 23-cent-a-pack cigarette tax to bring in $1.7 billion. He proposes shifting these funds to local governments to pay for foster care and other children's programs -- a far smaller local government shift than he first proposed. In addition, Davis would increase the sales tax one-half-cent per dollar to raise $2.3 billion statewide until the $10.7 billion loan is repaid. In Santa Clara County, it would climb to 8.75 percent. Under the Davis plan, the vehicle license fee would be allowed to climb back to its 1998 level, which means drivers would pay an average $120 more a year. Overall, Davis proposed a $95.8 billion spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1. It includes the state's general operating fund as well as bonds and special funds. As was the case in January, prisons were among the few agencies that would come out with a bigger budget under the Davis plan. Davis proposed a variety of ways to save $34 million, including shutting down the Southern California internal affairs office. But overall spending for prisons would still jump $115 million this year and $24 million next year. Stephen Green, a spokesman for the agency that oversees prisons, said much of the higher spending is attributable to plans for a new corrections headquarters -- which will not be built in the next year -- and a new death row at San Quentin, a proposal clouded in controversy. And the budget reflects another $69 million for guard overtime, workers compensation and temporary help. School leaders across the state exhaled in relief as the self-professed education governor announced a budget plan that spared schools the deep blow they were expecting. Education groups, who lobbied furiously to keep cuts to schools below the more than $2.5 billion many were predicting, applauded the governor for giving a nod to his key supporters.
Wayne Johnson, the president of the California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union, said: ``I thought
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