There's encouraging news out of Sacramento now about the state's budget situation.
But Governor Brown is warning that the outlook won't stay so upbeat for very long.
The huge deficit that was projected in the governor's first budget proposal back in January has shrunk after strong "revenue growth" since then.
He's now able to lock in priority spending, while keeping a wary eye what might happen beyond the fiscal year that starts July 1.
"In California, we don't live in a fixed world of straight-line revenues that keep rising and never go down,” Brown told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “They go up, and they go down."
He broke out charts showing a scary pattern of red budget ink that plagued California in the ten recessionary periods since World War II.
Brown expressed a commitment to making education, health care, child care and so-called "anti-poverty" programs real spending priorities.
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What were described as relatively minor cuts will still be imposed in various other areas.
The governor says he’s concerned about "ongoing pressures from Washington" such as threats that federal funds with be withheld from California and certain other states, and the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
"He's taking it real seriously,” said Sara Libby, managing editor of NBC 7’s media partner Voice of San Diego, who extensively covers state government issues.
“And he even issued, as he was presenting the new budget,” Libby added, “kind of a warning to the Republican members of Congress from California that this will be a huge hit to the state if you help push this through."
Republican state legislators are criticizing Brown for not putting more money into the "rainy day fund" ahead of an economic downturn.
One cited continued spending on "high-speed rail"-- the so-called Bullet Train.
