Budget Proposal: Brown Wants To Set Aside $300M for high-speed rail

10:17 A.M. -- (Katie Orr) --  During the press conference Brown compared the state’s fledgling high-speed rail project to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Panama Canal. He says it’s something that would bring the state together and would contribute to California’s innovative spirit.

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"No one is talking about the Marshall Plan or putting a man on the moon or the trans-continental highway," Brown said. "But I think California is still that generator of dreams and great initiatives."

Brown also wants to set aside $300 million for high-speed rail.

Among other allocations Brown is proposing: $1.6 billion in a rainy day fund and more than 800 million dollars for infrastructure projects including upkeep in state parks, highways, schools, courts and prisons. 

9 A.M. (AP) -- A robust economic recovery and surging revenue propelled by voter-approved tax increases has sent California's general fund spending to a record high, but Gov. Jerry Brown is pledging a somber approach to the windfall.

In introducing his budget proposal Thursday, the Democratic governor said beginning to pay down California's massive "wall of debt" must be a priority.

His budget proposal for the 2014-15 fiscal year dedicates $11 billion to paying down debts and liabilities, including $6 billion in payments that had been deferred to schools.

He also sets aside $1.6 billion for a rainy day fund to protect against future downturns, saying "wisdom and prudence should be the order of the day.

The record $106.8 billion general fund exceeds the spending level of just before the recession by more than $3 billion and is a nearly 9 percent increase over spending in the current fiscal year.

A copy of the plan obtained by Capital Public Radio projects that the state now has a $4.6 billion surplus for the current and upcoming fiscal years. Just three years ago the deficit was $25 billion.

In the proposal, Brown includes a significant increase in funding for schools and projects including parks, highways, courts and prisons. 

It also includes:

• Health policy changes for the state’s Medi-Cal program
• Major investments in the environment and plans to spend $850 million in revenue from the state’s cap and trade program
• Giving the State Water Resources Control Board responsibility to run California’s Safe Drinking Water Program

Brown also proposes setting aside $1.6 billion for a rainy day fund. 

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