Democrats set to unveil revised budget plan

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Democratic leaders in Sacramento will unveil a revised and more detailed budget plan Tuesday, seven weeks after the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to approve a spending plan.

Senate President Pro Tem. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said Monday the plan would include deeper cuts while maintaining the call in earlier Democratic proposals to suspend about $2 billion corporate tax breaks. The proposal includes an oil production tax and also contains a mixture of high income taxes and lower sales taxes which Steinberg is labeling as “tax reform.� Many of those proposals were outlined in a column by George Skelton last week.

“We recognize as Democrats that cuts are necessary,� Steinberg said Monday, describing the continuing gulf between Democrats and Republicans on the budget. “But the other side, they seem to view cuts as a virtue in and of themselves. That is the difference between us. We see cuts as a necessity, not a virtue. We should be trying to save as much education investment as we can.�

Steinberg said the plan will be unveiled in a press conference with himself and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) on Tuesday in Sacramento. But he said he believes the proposal finds the “sweet spot� between cuts, new revenues and maintaining investment in education and social safety-net programs.

--Anthony York in Sacramento