Video: Jerry Brown Announces Budget Deficit is $16 Billion, $7 Billion More Than Projected

Video here...

News10 Sacramento's political editor, John Myers, has been tweeting about the news, and his analysis of the numbers is disheartening, to say the least:

.@JerryBrownGov announces in YouTube video that #cabudget deficit is now whopping $16 billion: ow.ly/1M5DRm

— John Myers (@johnmyers) May 12, 2012

Brown's video offers no specific #cabudget fixes.But $16 billion deficit must mean major weaknesses in 2011's deal & beyond.

— John Myers (@johnmyers) May 12, 2012

Using range of estimates 4 how much @JerryBrownGov tax measure would bring in, new #cabudget deficit means $7B-$10B in cuts.

— John Myers (@johnmyers) May 12, 2012

Asm GOP leader Conway response 2 Guv's estimated $16B #cabudget gap: "rein in spending..(leave) overburdened taxpayers alone.”

— John Myers (@johnmyers) May 12, 2012

Update: From the LA Times...

Advocates involved in budget discussions say they expect deeper cuts to social services than Brown originally proposed in January. Union officials are also in negotiations with administration officials about ways to reduce state payroll costs, an issue that wasn't on the table earlier this year.

Brown has said there will be even deeper cuts, mostly to public education, if voters do not improve tax hikes in November. He is seeking a quarter-cent increase in the state sales tax for four years and a seven-year hike on incomes of $250,000 or more that will range from 1 to 3 percentage points. He says the measure would raise $9 billion in the upcoming budget year.

Brown is expected to outline what is now definitely Plan B in his May budget revise on Monday.