Poor at risk as US state mulls austerity

Jerry Brown, California’s governor, has called on state assembly members to adopt austerity measures and urged citizens to approve tax increases, in a speech outlining a revised budget.

Brown proposed on Monday $8.3bn in spending cuts for education, health care and welfare programmes in a plan aimed at combating the state’s severe budget deficit amounting to $15.7bn.

But critics say the plan will hurt the poor the most.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds reports from Los Angeles.