With the Nov. 6 election just 12 days away,Gov. Jerry Brown met Bay Area business leaders Thursday and then moved on to Salinas as part of a late push to gather support for the passage of his statewide tax measure on the ballot.

Brown visited the headquarters of the Bay Area Council, a regional business advocacy group, on Thursday to discuss Proposition 30, which would temporarily raise California's sales tax by 0.25 percent and increase the state's income tax for people making more than $250,000 per year.

The tax revenues would be used in part to fund K-12 education and community colleges, which have seen sharp cuts in recent years.

"It's hurt the schools, or take a little money from people who can well afford it," Brown said.

The Bay Area Council last month came out in support of Proposition 30, a rare show of support by a business group for a tax measure, according to Steve Falk, president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

"While it's hard to get enthusiastic about tax increases, it's easy to get enthusiastic about supporting California's education system," Falk said. "To grow jobs, you need educated workers."

As the governor left for Salinas, a statewide poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California said Prop. 30 is falling just short of the majority approval needed to pass.

The PPIC poll found that 48 percent of people polled would vote yes for the measure, while 44 percent would vote no and 8 percent are undecided.

Brown acknowledged "this is a close election" but said he was "confident that the voters, when given all the information, are going to invest in their kids."

Dan McMenamin, Bay City News

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