Golis: Gov. Brown's historic second act

Forty-one years ago this week, California's new governor, Jerry Brown, submitted his first state budget. Admirers said it was only a matter of time before the 36-year-old political wunderkind became president of the United States.

Brown never won the White House (he tried three times). But he has managed to accomplish something almost as rare in politics - a meaningful second act. On Thursday, Brown, back in the governor's office, unveiled his 2016-17 budget plan.

Think of it this way: When Brown was elected governor the first time, his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, was still six years away from being elected to the White House. And state Sen. Mike McGuire, the Healdsburg Democrat, was still five years away from being born.

As expected, Brown used the introduction of a new budget as an opportunity to share a lesson in economics with his fellow Democrats in the legislature. It's necessary to remember, he said, that state revenues go up and state revenues go down - and it's not a great idea to base spending on expectations that they will only go higher year after year.

If these admonitions sound obvious, you may not know the history of state government between 2002 and 2010. Even before the 2008 recession came crashing down, California was in trouble because lawmakers couldn't keep spending in line with revenues. Brown inherited a state hammered by the cumulative impacts of recession, globalization and a government that couldn't live within its means. The annual budget shortfall reached $26.6 billion.

Beginning in 2011, Brown presided over the passage of a series of spending plans that eliminated what came to be know as the budget's “structural deficit.” The state also began to cut into the mountain of debt he inherited.

Now an improved revenue picture once again has Democrats in the legislature eager to ratchet up spending.

While recommending some increases in spending, Brown also wants to pay down more of the state's debt and to place an additional $2 billion into a rainy-day fund.

Several times on Thursday, he held up a chart that showed the state's history of deficit budgets. “Every program you're going to hear about in the next nine months will be good and will help people,” he said, “but we also have to look at the capacity of the state and what's the willingness of taxpayers to pay for more.”

“This is not a candy store where you get to pick out everything you want,” he added later, “you have to choose.”

Before Brown began his second act as governor, critics were saying the state had become “ungovernable.” California, its detractors said, had become the North American equivalent of default-ridden Greece.

In his second time around, the guy they used to call Gov. Moonbeam became the grown-up in the room.

Challenges remain - highways, water, homelessness, pension shortfalls - but government is functioning again.

Governing magazine honored Brown as one its 2015 Public Officials of the Year. The governor, the profile said, “helped put California back on a sustainable course.”

Californians may take Brown's accomplishments for granted. Given the reductions in the numbers of television and newspaper reporters in the Capitol, we don't hear and read as much about state government as we did 20 years ago. Plus, there's a general cynicism about government that translates into apathy.

Which is not to say that state government is less important. It remains a $170 billion enterprise with 200,000 employees. From public education to highways to law enforcement to health care to social services, it touches our lives every day.

Brown has always possessed an intelligence and intellectual curiosity uncommon among politicians. Can you imagine one of today's presidential candidates reading books about economics, science or the ancient philosophers? Some of these candidates like to showcase how little they know of the world - as if that's a good thing.

In the first act of his political career, Brown spent a lot of time trying to show off his disdain for political convention. He dated a rock star, rode around in a blue Plymouth, slept on a mattress on the floor. He appointed people no less determined to demonstrate their unconventional ideas.

Brown also lacked patience, launching his first campaign for president only two years after he became governor. After two terms as governor, ending in 1982, he would lose a race for the U.S. Senate, work with Mother Teresa in India, host a radio talk show, chair the state Democratic Party, serve two terms as mayor of Oakland and then get elected attorney general.

Like him or not, there has never been anyone like him in the history of California. And now, at age 77, he is trying to make sure that state government doesn't wander into the weeds again.

These are not easy times to serve in government. Public distrust has made it more difficult to recruit the most talented people to public service. As middle class jobs sail away to Asia, there are more people in need. Republicans in the legislature oppose new taxes, even those that would repair roads and highways by bringing transportation taxes into the 21st century.

Through it all, Brown still seems to enjoy the challenge of making government work. What would state government be like if he chose early retirement? Better not to think about it.

Pete Golis is a columnist for The Press Democrat. Email him at golispd@gmail.com.