Majority supports governor’s tax plan

A recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California indicates that a strong majority of Californians support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to raise the sales tax by a half-cent and income taxes on high earners to help close the state’s budget deficit.

The plan has a long way to go—the governor still has to get it on the November 2012 ballot—but 65 percent of likely voters support it. The poll also found that voters were deeply concerned about further cuts to K-12 public education and believed that their local governments have been severely affected by state budget cuts.