Public safety and education in jeopardy Gov. Jerry Brown announced his proposed 2012-13 budget last week. The $92.5 billion budget is balanced and could produce a $1.1 million surplus for future reserves. Both the projections and plan are delicately balanced on the assumption that state voters will approve his proposed tax increases on upper-bracket taxpayers…

The California State Board of Equalization voted to lower the excise tax rate on gasoline by 2.2 cents per gallon for fiscal year 2016-17. The new gasoline excise tax will be 27.8 cents per gallon and is effective July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017. “Today’s vote was simply a matter of fairness. Californians overpaid…