Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said Thursday she plans to force a budget vote Sunday, though lawmakers have no deal to end a stalemate that has lasted nearly seven weeks into the fiscal year.
Republicans and Democrats remain divided over whether to use new taxes, cuts or borrowing to resolve a $15.2 billion shortfall in a $101 billion general fund budget. If lawmakers convene Sunday, it would mark their first budget floor vote this summer, 48 days into the fiscal year.
Lawmakers want to register a vote by this weekend to meet a deadline set by Secretary of State Debra Bowen for placing measures on the November ballot. At least two components of budget negotiations require voter approval: a long-term change in budgetary policy and a plan to borrow against profits from an expanded California Lottery.
Many see the deadline as negotiable, however, and believe a Sunday vote may be the first of several floor exercises before a final deal is struck.
Bass, D-Los Angeles, said lawmakers plan to vote Sunday on a modified version of the Democratic conference committee plan, which relied on tax increases on the wealthy.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said his chamber would hold a vote "probably Sunday," though he grew more tentative about those plans late Thursday.
Perata, D-Oakland, said Thursday that lawmakers remain divided over whether to use taxes or borrowing to balance the state's budget shortfall. But he said he is on the same page with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on long-term budget changes that establish a stronger reserve fund but do not tie spending to population growth and inflation, as GOP legislators want.
"That's not an issue anymore," Perata said. "We've worked that out. I think it's to his satisfaction. It's to our satisfaction. I don't know how the Republicans feel about that. Most of them wanted a very hard cap."
Assemblyman Roger Niello, R-Fair Oaks, vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said the governor's budget plan would be unacceptable to his Republican colleagues, at least six of whom are necessary to pass a budget in the Assembly.
"That is not a reliable reserve," Niello said. "Our caucus believes the only way to have a reliable reserve, a real rainy-day fund, is to limit the growth of spending when revenue growth is strong."
Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.
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