California Gov. Jerry Brown's Signs Budget Lacking Drama of Previous Years

LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a budget Thursday that puts budget-busting deficits in the state’s rear-view mirror.

Brown and legislative leaders compromised on a $97.4 billion spending plan without the tumult of previous years.

During the signing press conference, Brown called the signing a “momentous occasion, because we have a balanced budget not proposed but actually actualized, the first time in probably a decade or more; the governor said moments before signing the spending plan for the fiscal year that starts on Monday,” according to a report from the Associated Press.

The spending plan includes a $96.3 billion general fund and a reserve account of $1.1 billion and $6 billion in voter-approved taxes.

Standard & Poor’s raised California’s GO rating to A from A-minus in January, and Fitch Ratings upped its outlook on the state’s A-minus rating to positive in March. Moody’s Investors Service rates the state’s general obligation bonds A1.

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