California's Brown proposes 'painful' budget cuts

Brown, a 72-year-old Democrat who last week began his third term as governor 28 years after wrapping up his second term, faces a tough campaign to win approval of his budget plan from the Golden State's fractious legislature.

Brown's proposed cuts, like those of his predecessor, Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, come in response to a steep drop in the state's coffers in the wake of a crippling housing market crash and recession that roiled financial markets and sent unemployment into the double digits.

(...) Brown proposed cutting the take-home pay of unionized state employees in six bargaining units by between 8 percent and 10 percent. The units account for more than a third of the state's general fund payroll. Salaries are projected to cost the fund $7 billion in the next fiscal year, and cutting the pay of the six units would bring them in line with the agreements reached by Schwarzenegger's administration and the state work force's 15 other bargaining units last year.

Brown also wants the six units to remain on three-day-per-month furloughs through June. Schwarzenegger made aggressive use of furloughs to hold down payroll expenses.

In addition, the budget proposal includes $1.7 billion in cuts to the state's health program and $1.5 billion in spending reductions for its welfare-to-work program.

Big cuts are also slated for programs for the disabled, including the mentally retarded and autistic.