Frustrated that the state lacks a budget 16 days into the fiscal year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he may insist legislative leaders "sit in the room and not leave the room until it's done."
"It is almost like there is no emergency there," Schwarzenegger told The Bee in an interview. "At one point or the other, you have to say, like they do with labor negotiations, 'let us sit in the room and not leave the room until it's done.' We have done that in the past, we have sat here until three in the morning. Eventually, I'm going to go and ask them again to sit down and let's not leave the room until it's done."
Republican and Democratic leaders in both houses have met without the governor for several weeks to resolve a $15.2 billion shortfall in the $101 billion general fund budget. Schwarzenegger has met with leaders individually, but he said he has tried "not to interfere with their process." The parties remain divided over whether the state should use tax increases to bridge the gap, as majority Democrats have proposed.
Asked whether he can ultimately agree to some tax increases, Schwarzenegger said, "I'm not here to negotiate against myself."
Schwarzenegger's campaign office sent out e-mails Wednesday asking his supporters to E-mail their legislators. He said he has "said it enough" that a late budget is irresponsible, with the state in danger of running out of cash reserves in August.
"I think the power I have is to bring the four leaders together and keep reminding them and keep looking at different angles of how we can get to that sweet spot in order to have a budget as quickly as possible," Schwarzenegger said.
The governor said he plans to hold a "Big Five" meeting with the four legislative leaders later this week, the first such session in a month.
"Then we're going to go and see, we'll judge by that meeting, what will be the best way to move the process forward and come to a conclusion," he said.
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