Stark tax choice for Californian voters Jerry Brown, California's governor, has warned that the wealthiest US state will have to close schools for up to an extra three weeks if voters do not back temporary tax increases on the rich. A ballot in next month's US election will ask Californians to support a tax rise of 3 per cent on the wealthiest 1 per cent in the state. Recent polls have shown a drop in support for Mr Brown's plan, which would trigger billions of dollars in cuts to education if it fails. The warning about school closures foreshadows concerns about the "fiscal cliff" facing the US, with $600bn in federal tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect on January 1. Mr Brown, a Democrat who governed the most populous US state in the 1970s before returning to office in 2010, said the "richest 1 per cent" of California had a "moral" obligation to pay more in taxes. "When I was governor last time, personal income was $165bn and the top 1 per cent earned 8 per cent of it," he told the Financial Times in an interview. In recent times the top 1 per cent has earned 22 per cent of personal income, which is now $1.9tn. The tax boost, on the ballot as Proposition 30, is opposed by California Republicans and a group called the Small Business Action Committee, which this week received a controversial $11m donation from an anonymous group based outside the state. The SBAC did not respond to a request for comment. Mr Brown lashed out at opponents of the measure, who he said were "finance guys." Oil companies, private hospitals, agriculture businesses and drinks manufacturers support Prop 30, he said. He also revealed that Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founders of DreamWorks, had donated to the "Yes on Prop 30" campaign. The temporary tax rise, if approved, will last seven years, with staggered increases affecting those earning more than $250,000, $500,000 and $1m a year. The super-rich needed to consider the consequences of the measure failing, he said. It takes a refined theory to say to billionaires that it's easier to take three weeks of school away from kids in Los Angeles than it is to take 3 per cent away from people who make hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Mr Brown then quoted from the Bible, stressing "the moral dimension" of the need for higher taxes. "Luke 12:48 says: "For those of whom much has been given, much is required." Those at the high end can brace themselves for seven years and lend schoolkids a helping hand. I appeal to their sense of loyalty and fairness.