SACRAMENTO . (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday that he has signed a bill authorizing construction of a Ronald Reagan statue inside the California Capitol in Sacramento.

Brown cited Reagan's leadership in signing the bill authorizing the statue. He said the Republican icon oversaw needed tax hikes just like Brown wants to do with the help of voters in November.

"Even in those days he demonstrated courage and unique leadership ability — even to the point of raising California taxes when he saw they were needed," Brown wrote in his signing message.

In 1966, Reagan defeated Brown's father, Pat Brown, in his bid for a third term before the state imposed term limits.

The bill authored by Assemblyman Curt Hagman, a Republican from Chino Hills, authorizes planning for a statue honoring the former governor and president. It will be built with private funds.

The bill found no opposition in the Legislature.

California also honors Reagan in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall. In 2006, the state Legislature voted to remove a statue of Civil War abolitionist Thomas Starr King and replace it with a bronze statue of Reagan.

King's statue has been returned to California and placed in a garden outside the Capitol. The state's other statue is of Father Junipero Serra, the Franciscan missionary.