The key words are “majority vote” which mean that Brown was unable to garner the two thirds vote necessary to eliminate or “reform” the EZ program out of existence.  The following is from the Sacramento Bee:

Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders announced today that they have reached an agreement on a new majority-vote budget plan.

“We’ve had some tough discussions, but I can tell you that the Democrats in both the Senate and the Assembly have now joined with the administration and myself and we have a very good plan going forward with the budget,” Brown said at a press conference in his office this afternoon.

The proposal, outlined in this post, assumes that the state will bring in an additional $4 billion in revenues in the upcoming fiscal year, based in part on higher-than-expected revenue figures in recent months. If those revenues fail to materialize, steeper cuts to programs including K-12 schools, higher education, public safety programs and In-Home Supportive Services would occur later in the year.

“We have severe trigger cuts that will be triggered and go into effect (without the projected revenues),” Brown said. “And those are real.”

With approximately $1 billion dollar tax shortfall, the majority of local representatives are pushing for increased taxation, however with the current makeup of the legislature, a two-thirds majority looks to be doubtful.

Despite the fact that several republican represantatives have gone against party lines and voted for increased taxes, the majority of conservatives, including Governor Schwarzenegger suggest that state spending cuts and not increased taxation, is the key to stabilizing California’s economy.