Governor, Democratic leaders agree on budget plan

Gov. Jerry Brown, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg have reached an agreement on the state budget, the governor’s office said. The Senate and Assembly will hold votes next week to act on the plan.

A statement from the governor’s office said the “conceptual agreement protects education, permanently reforms welfare and includes tough ongoing cuts. The Legislature will take final votes on the budget trailer bills in the coming days.”

The agreement reportedly includes the shift of some 900,000 youngsters from the Healthy Families program, which will be abolished, into Medi-Cal, the state-federal health care system for low-income Californians.