California Investors Fear Return to Deficits as Governor Jerry Brown Departs
- Bond buyers want frontrunner Newsom to show fiscal prudency
- Democrat would take charge as prospect of recession looms
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The fiscal contrast between California Governor Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner to replace him, may best be shown through a decades-old program to fight blight.
Facing a $25 billion budget deficit, Brown entered office in 2011 with a cost-cutting plan that included killing hundreds of redevelopment agencies. Eight years later, Newsom is poised to inherit an almost $9 billion surplus. One of his campaign planks: bring the agencies back.