SACRAMENTO – Two decades after he left the governor's office, Edmund “Jerry” Brown was once again taking the oath to lead the state, vowing to take on the state's troubled budget and get the state back on its feet.

Brown took the oath in a Monday ceremony at the State Capitol Building as state leaders past and present – among them outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as former Gov. Gray Davis – looked on.

He said the year ahead will “demand courage and sacrifice,” and will require that elected officials rise above partisan politics. “There is no other way forward. In this crisis, we simply have to learn to work together as Californians first, members of a political party second.”

He promised to be guided by three principles: Speak the truth, no new taxes unless the people vote for them and return decisions and authority to cities, counties and schools as much as possible.

The budget Brown said he will present next week will be painful but honest, he said.

“My goal is to achieve greater accountability and reduce the historic shifting of responsibility back and forth from one level of government to another,” he said. “The plan represents my best understanding of our real dilemmas and possibilities. It is a tough budget for tough times.”

Recalling his family's own pioneer history, Brown said California's people have not lost their pioneering spirit or their capacity to meet life’s challenges.

“Even in the midst of this recession, Californians this year will produce almost $2 trillion of new wealth as measured by our state’s domestic product,” he said.

“The innovations of Silicon Valley, the original thinking coming out of our colleges and universities, the skill of our farmers, the creative imagination of Hollywood, the Internet and the grit and determination of small businesses everywhere – all give hope for an even more abundant future,” Brown said. “And so do our teachers, our nurses, our firefighters, our police and correctional officers, our engineers, and all manner of public servants who faithfully carry out our common undertakings.”

In the coming year the state will confront many problems – education, crime, budgets, water – but, offering perspective, Brown said, “Many of these issues have confronted California one way or another for decades, certainly since the time of Governor Earl Warren.”

He concluded, “California here I come, right back where I started from.”

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