Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave Democrats the cold shoulder as he grew convinced he can somehow win Republican support for a midyear budget deal that includes tax hikes, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Wednesday.
The Democratic Senate leader said he and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass came just shy of closing a budget deal Sunday that would have reduced the state's estimated $40 billion deficit by $17 billion over the next 17-plus months. But Steinberg said in subsequent talks the governor spurned their offer with an eye toward reaching a bipartisan agreement with support from anti-tax Republicans instead of working on a deal backed only by Democrats.
"He believes that he can convince the Republicans to vote for revenue increases given that we're now pretty much at the brink," Steinberg told The Bee's Capitol Bureau. "And if that's the case, great. Then we'll resume a different kind of negotiation. If it's not true, then I expect we'll be right back to our $17 billion-plus proposal and try to close that out."
Steinberg said he thinks lawmakers can still avert a cash shortage if they pass midyear changes by February. While the changes alone may not be swift enough to provide California with enough cash to pay its bills, he suggested that passage of a credible budget solution would enable the state to take out sufficient loans.
If the state runs out of cash, state Controller John Chiang has warned that California would begin issuing IOUs to legislators, constitutional officers, judges and their aides. The state would stop paying vendors who do business with the state and delay giving taxpayers their refunds.
Schwarzenegger plans to give a budget presentation this afternoon, where he is likely to call on Democrats and Republicans to work on a two-thirds vote plan to implement his January budget solution, which contains spending cuts, higher taxes and economic stimulus.
Democrats last month approved a majority-vote plan that would have reduced the budget deficit by $18 billion, which they did not send Schwarzenegger until Tuesday. The governor promptly vetoed their bills, and talks remain frozen for now.
Call Kevin Yamamura, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5548.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.