Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will join other governors meeting with President-Elect Barack Obama on Tuesday to discuss the troubled economy at the National Governors Association conference in Philadelphia.
The meeting comes as Schwarzenegger and his colleagues look for federal stimulus in the form of public works money or direct aid in higher Medicaid reimbursements as they try to resolve major budget shortfalls at home. The governor has emphasized that he does not see federal assistance as a solution to the budget problem, and has said California needs to get its own fiscal house in order. But Schwarzenegger has said he is hopeful the state could see as much as $5 billion a year for the next three years.
Schwarzenegger is expected to call two concurrent special sessions today to start the new two-year legislative season. The first would be a fiscal-emergency session that has a built-in 45-day deadline for passing budget solutions, while the second would be a separate session dealing with the mortgage crisis, economic development and other proposals not directly tied to the state's current $11.2 billion budget gap.
By leaving federal aid out of California's budget negotiations, Schwarzenegger has tried to avoid the backlash that followed Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass after she suggested to The Bee that federal aid could replace spending cuts in the state budget.
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