"I'm going to veto a lot of bills over the next 30 days. I have to say to some: 'Fasten your seat belt. It's going to be a rough ride," said Brown Friday.
In his first veto since publicly telling lawmakers this week many of their 600 bills may be headed to the reject pile, Governor Jerry Brown suggests he'll be heavily weighing the impact the proposals will have on the state's finances.
Brown vetoed a measure that would have altered the mechanism for automatic emergency budget cuts if tax revenues fall below projection.
He said the budget contains no gimmicks for the first time in years.
"Why would we undermine the plan that has earned widespread respect and helped stabilize California's finances?" said Brown.
Education would take the brunt of those emergency cuts at the end of the year, but Brown doesn't seem willing to bend on the budget.
"He's not been willing to change the trigger. We've asked him for specific changes that need to be made. And as we said, the sooner the better," said Dennis Meyers, assistant executive director, California Association of School Business Officials.
Brown does a lot of his own veto messages.
On the flipside, the governor signed two bills that extended taxes on the healthcare industry, which stabilizes parts of the state budget.
Among the programs saved is Healthy Families, meaning health coverage for 900,000 California children will continue.
"Without this measure hundreds of thousands of families would have lost their affordable health coverage," said Nicette Short, Children Now. "We're very relieved and we know the families will be as well."
