Gov. Jerry Brown filed a ballot initiative on Monday asking California voters to increase taxes on themselves to generate more money for schools and public safety, the Huffington Post reports. Brown posted an open letter to the people of California on his website, saying he wants to temporarily increase taxes on the rich and raise the statewide sales tax by half a cent, to 7.75 percent. The proposal would raise about $7 billion a year for five years.
“The stark truth is that without new tax revenues, we will have no other choice but to make deeper and more damaging cuts to schools, universities, public safety and our courts,” the Democratic governor wrote…