K-12 Tax & Spending Climate: Jerry Brown’s bid to kill redevelopment agencies sets stage for fierce battle

Jessica Garrison:

When he unveiled his proposed budget earlier this week, Gov. Jerry Brown declared on the first page that it was time to push more authority to local governments, so decisions could be made “closer to the people.”
A lot of local officials see his actions very differently.
One of Brown’s proposals calls for eliminating municipal redevelopment agencies, which would take billions of dollars out of city coffers and send it instead to school districts, counties and the state. Brown projected that this would save the state $1.7 billion in the next fiscal year.