Brown has campaigned heavily for Proposition 30 as a way to restore fiscal sanity and to stave off deep cuts to public schools and universities. The initiative calls for a quarter-cent increase to sales taxes for four years and a seven-year tax hike on California' s highest earners.
This is rare in California since voters in the state have not approved a statewide tax increase since 2004.
With Democrats securing a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of the state Legislature, Brown should have an easier time pursuing his broader agenda.
That makeup would allow Democrats to pass budgets and make other spending decisions without any Republican opposition.
However, voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 38, which would increase income taxes for most Californians to raise funds primarily for schools and early childhood education.
Labor unions have achieved their goal to defeat Proposition 32, which would have reduced their political influence by barring unions from using paycheck deductions for political purposes.
Californian voters also voted against Proposition 34, which would have replaced the death penalty with life in prison without parole.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
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