If you think state spending is out of control, think again. One data point from Gov. Jerry Brown's new budget. Budget cuts and revenue declines during the Great Recession have pushed state spending, as a percentage of income, down to the lowest level since the 1972-1973 budget year.
"We're back in '72," Brown told a press conference Monday.
That was before Brown's first governorship -- and before the state took over responsibility for funding all sorts of local government functions.
