California Legislature rejects many of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget cuts as negotiations continue [Video]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Legislature on Thursday rejected many of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most difficult budget cuts, choosing instead to speed-up a temporary tax increase on some businesses to help address an estimated $45 billion deficit while preserving spending on many social safety net programs.

The budget lawmakers approved is not the state’s final spending plan. Newsom and legislative leaders are still negotiating how to fix the shortfall before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. But lawmakers had to pass a balanced budget by Saturday or else they would forfeit their six-figure salaries — a rule voters approved in 2010 to prevent the types of budget stalemates that had delayed negotiations in the past.

That is why Thursday’s vote was not really a public rebuke of Newsom, a Democrat who for the most part has had a good relationship with a Legislature dominated by members of his …