Jerry Brown Says 'Survival Has to Trump Domestic Issues' in Democratic Primary

A focus on existential issues facing America, namely climate change and the threat of nuclear blunder, should be given higher priority by the Democratic candidates for president, former California Gov. Jerry Brown said.

"I do think survival has to trump domestic issues," Brown told a live audience at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater on Monday night.

Brown shared thoughts on the 2020 election, and his views on state and national politics at the launch of KQED’s new series about his life and career, "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown."

A three-time presidential candidate, Brown lamented the focus on domestic policy divisions between the candidates — both in their stated plans and questions asked during debates.

"I think there is a disconnect between the process of selecting the president, and what the president has to do when he gets there," Brown said.

While Brown admitted that he hasn't watched most of the Democratic debates, ("since we don’t have a television at my [Colusa County] ranch,") he questioned the focus on issues like single-payer health care.

"That’s not the most illuminating way to display the big issues of the country. I don’t think the big issues get the same focus in this kind of process," he added. "For me, climate change, the threat of nuclear mistake, those are big issues. But it’s hard to bring that up. It’s complicated, it’s not news of the day."

Brown also threw cold water on the emphasis that candidates, most notably Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have put on sharing detailed plans on issues like taxation, student debt and health care.

"I don’t think you have to give all these plans," he said. "You have an idea, a value, a vision. Then you have to have the imagination or skill to get it done."

Brown declined to endorse a presidential candidate or weigh in on a potential November ballot measure that could raise property taxes on some California businesses.

At Monday's event, Brown fielded questions from KQED politics editor Scott Shafer and members of the audience. The conversation also steered into issues at the state Capitol, which Brown left last year after his fourth term as governor.

Brown pushed back against possible changes coming to his signature education program: the Local Control Funding Formula.

The LCFF, enacted in 2013 during Brown's third term as governor, was an effort to return educational decision-making closer to the classroom. It sent money to school districts with high percentages of low-income students and English-language learners, changing the practice of directing funding through a complicated web of specific programs that came with more strings attached.

A state audit released last year said California was not doing enough to track how districts were spending the money and that "neither state nor local stakeholders have adequate information to assess the impact of those funds on intended student groups."

In response to the audit, state lawmakers have introduced bills to increase state oversight over the LCFF funds.

During his state budget presentation, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he supports the Local Control Funding Formula, but called for "more transparency" and "more accountability" around it.

On Monday night, Brown acknowledged that change is likely coming to his signature education initiative, but warned of increasing the state's administrative overhead.

"If you put in more programs, you have to have more rules. How do you know when a rule is broken? Well you have to have an audit, you have to send in inspectors and inspectors have to file a report. If you file a report, you have to have a committee hearing. Once you have a committee hearing, then you have to make a new rule," Brown said.

"Pretty soon, you’re going to find out a huge percentage of education money is going to the inspectors, going to the data collectors, going to everybody but the teachers," he added. "I would say give the money to the teachers and take your chances."

Brown also weighed in on the political ambitions of Newsom, his successor in the governor's office.

"All governors of California want to be president," quipped Brown, who pursued the nation's highest office during both his first and second terms in office.

Asked about similarities between his first year in the governor's office, in 1975, and Newsom's first year, Brown replied, "He's young and he has a lot of hair."