State Treasurer Brown Backs Brother’s Bid

Democratic Treasurer Kathleen Brown, who maintained a distance from her brother, former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., during her campaign last year, said Thursday she fully supports his bid for the presidency. But she said she would not campaign for him out of state.

While running for treasurer last year, Brown avoided discussing her brother’s politics or his two controversial terms as governor. When questioned, she would tell interviewers that she and her brother were “different shades of Brown” and pointed out that she was trying to establish her own political identity.

But there was no qualification when she was questioned about her brother’s presidential campaign during a breakfast meeting with reporters from The Times.

“Yeah, I think he should,” she responded when asked whether she thought her brother should run.

The treasurer said her brother will bring “a particular perspective, vision and passion to the race for President.”

Saying that she thought the days were over when presidential candidates could play it safe and “slide through” the primaries, Brown said political rewards “will be given to the risk-takers who are willing to articulate a vision for this country and plans for addressing it.” She said her brother’s voice will be “compelling in that debate.”

Jerry Brown ran twice for the presidency while serving as governor, losing in the Democratic primaries. During both campaigns, in 1976 and in 1980, Kathleen Brown campaigned in primary states for her brother.

This time, however, she said she plans to stay home. “I have a full-time job right here,” she said.

In other comments, Brown struck a decidedly moderate political tone, sounding almost Republican.

Brown said she thought California was “taxed to the max” by enactment this summer of $7 billion in tax increases to help bring down an estimated $14.3 billion deficit. She said that if there are any further budget problems, the state will have to cut spending, adding that she expects more spending rollbacks.

She called the tax increases necessary, “a balloon payment that came due after three years or so of failing to deal with the state’s budget imbalance.”

She added: “We’re going to have to do a lot more cutting before we’re finished. I think government is going to be a lot leaner, a lot meaner in years ahead.”

As for her office, Brown said she has undertaken a thorough housecleaning. One of her early actions, she said, was putting together plans to abolish the District Securities Commission, one of the dozens of commissions she heads or influences as treasurer. The commission provides financing for water districts and water projects, and was filled with a number of appointees hired by the late Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh.

“No one in my office knew what went on there,” she said. After an impromptu visit, she wondered “how has this been allowed to exist for all these years?”

Brown, who criticized her predecessor, Thomas W. Hayes, the current state finance director, for allowing a backlog to build up in unsold bonds, said she is on her way to selling what would be a record $4 billion-plus in bonds.