Capitol Alert: Jerry Brown says budget talks still on

Gov. Jerry Brown said this afternoon that he is continuing to negotiate with Republican lawmakers on his budget plan, dismissing Republican statements outside his office as part of a budget "dance" that grows alternatively hot and cold.

However, Brown told a group of builders that if he cannot reach a deal on tax extensions in "the next few weeks ... we'll have to go to an initiative, and it will take the better part of a year."

It was one of at least two times this morning that Brown mentioned "the next few weeks," suggesting budget talks could linger beyond June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Brown said he had a positive discussion with Sen. Tom Berryhill, one of the Republicans with whom he has been negotiating, as recently as last night.

"I'm not giving up," Brown told reporters after speaking at the Moscone Center. "I will keep working to get those tax extensions. And we will get them, one way or the other."

At a press conference outside Brown's office this morning, Republican lawmakers said they could support an election on taxes if it is accompanied by the pension, regulatory and other government changes. But they are no closer to supporting Brown's bid to continue temporary tax hikes until after a fall election, a central part of Brown's plan.

"The Senate Republicans just had a big press conference out in front of my office saying 'No.' No, they don't want to agree to any tax extensions," Brown told the audience. "Just generally a rejectionist posture. But hey, that's part of the process, part of the dance."

Brown was asked by an audience member if the state might consider modifying Proposition 13, the property-tax limiting measure.

"As a politician I wouldn't say it is," Brown said. "That's the third rail."

Brown said the "core of Prop. 13" is important to Californians and unlikely to be changed "anytime soon."

But he said, "If the taxes are not extended, I believe there will be efforts to accelerate the reassessment of commercial property, or other efforts."