State of the State Address Heavy with Praise, but What About Facts?

California Governor Jerry Brown might not have been taking a victory lap Thursday morning, but he certainly wasn’t shying away from the praise and attention, either.

“Now let’s not applaud too much,” Brown softly chided a cheering legislature, “this is my longest speech and we’re not going to get out of here if we don’t keep moving.”

Brown addressed the state’s legislature in an annual event, the ‘State of the State,’ typically used to review the government’s progress, finances, and in this instance, accomplishments.

"The message this year is clear: California has once again confounded our critics,” Brown extolled. “We’ve wrought, in just 2 years, a solid and enduring budget, and by God we’re going to keep it that way for years to come.”

While California has virtually erased the multi-billion dollar deficits that plagued the state for the last several years through a combination of severe cuts and tax increases, the governor’s optimism, and claims, regarding some of his policies warrant inspection.

Sam Brock digs into the numbers to uncover the truth about prison spending, a grandiose project to build multiple tunnels under the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta for water transport, and a claim of jobs delivered to San Jose by foreign investment, in this edition of Reality Check.