Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger two years ago compared California to Athens and Sparta in their prime, a shining nation-state that shows the world how to get things done.

On Thursday, he suggested he'd settle for providing clean drinking water and keeping the lights on.

Delivering a modest State of the State speech, the movie-star governor acknowledged that Californians want their simple needs met before leaders embark on visionary plans.

Facing an estimated $40 billion budget deficit, Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are within weeks of leaving the state without enough cash to pay its bills, failing to fulfill their most basic responsibility.

"At the end of the day, most people do not require a great deal from their government," Schwarzenegger said. "They expect just simply the fundamentals. They want to live in safety. They want good education for their children."

The Republican governor in past years has used his State of the State address to promote oversized ambitions, such as universal health care or "blowing up the boxes" of bureaucracy. He said Thursday he still has "big plans for this state," but "the reality is that our state is incapacitated until we solve the budget crisis."

Schwarzenegger toned down his entire presentation. Rather than use the traditional 5 p.m. evening news time slot, he spoke in the morning, and some television stations chose to air "The Price Is Right" and "The View" instead. His speech lasted 13 minutes, barely long enough for lawmakers to get settled.

"This was Arnold admitting that a governor's job and state government's job is to provide the most basic of assurances," said Bill Whalen, a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution who wrote speeches for former Gov. Pete Wilson. "I think what is surprising is to hear a governor who likes to use the word 'fantastic,' who likes to speak in lofty terms, speak in such plain and humble language."

Schwarzenegger delivered few applause lines, and lawmakers responded with silence, most notably when he said they should lose pay the minute the budget is late. In his only State of the State proposal, the governor suggested cutting off salary and per diem payments for lawmakers if they do not pass a budget by the constitutional deadline of June 15.

Many lawmakers dismissed the idea as a gimmick, and Democratic leaders said the plan was moot because they intend to deliver a budget this month that will last through June 2010. To enact such a threat, the governor either would have to win unlikely support in the Legislature or pursue a ballot initiative.

"You read the polls, it's very popular to pick on the legislators," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. "And I know there is certainly a lot to criticize. But I'm darned proud of the institution that I help lead. … These are good, hardworking people, and sometimes the late budgets are the result of genuine differences in philosophy, in priorities and in values."

Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown said the governor struck the right tone by focusing on the budget rather than grand initiatives. Several lawmakers, however, said the governor should have provided a stronger vision Thursday.

"California needs the action and courage governor of 2004," said Sen. Jeff Denham, R–Merced. "Promises were made that boxes would be blown up and waste would be cut."

With the state about to run out of cash next month, the Republican governor faces the worst crisis of his Sacramento career. He asked lawmakers Thursday to put their ideologies aside and cut a deal, calling it "the year of political courage."

Schwarzenegger has proposed a budget that includes tax hikes and spending cuts, as well as a business-backed economic stimulus plan that relaxes labor and environmental regulations.

He has made the same request before, but it fell on deaf ears. Legislative leaders and Schwarzenegger plan to meet daily through Saturday.

Democrats support tax hikes and some cuts, though they have advocated making the taxes permanent and the cuts as temporary as possible. Republicans oppose taxes, though they've softened their criticism lately. They also want permanent cuts first, along with a long-term cap on state spending.

"I don't think we're lacking courage," said Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill. "Anyone who has gone through what we as legislators – on both sides of the aisle – are going through right now, relating to what we believe very strongly and how it relates to balancing this budget does not lack courage."

When listing basic services provided by state government, Schwarzenegger said Californians "want water when they turn on the faucet and electricity when they turn on the switch." A failure in the latter function contributed to Schwarzenegger's ouster of former Gov. Gray Davis, who was on hand Thursday.

Garry South, Davis' former political adviser, said governors enter with lofty goals but often find it difficult just to keep the state running.

"Davis was going to be the education governor, and all of a sudden he's the electricity governor," South said. "Reality has a way of intruding on your dreams when you're the chief executive.

"I think (Schwarzenegger) is a guy who came into office thinking that all you had to do was sweep Gray Davis out, and he, the Terminator, with his force of personality and star appeal, would just turn everything around. And that was incredibly naive."

Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548. Aurelio Rojas of The Bee's Capitol Bureau contributed to this report.