Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made it clear this morning he won't sign a package of taxes and cuts approved by Assembly Democrats last night as a way of balancing the state budget.
"I will veto any majority vote tax increase bill that punishes taxpayers for Sacramento's failure to live within its means," the governor said in a prepared statement. "The Legislature will have a difficult time explaining to Californians why they are running floor drills the day before our budget deadline. We do not have time for any more floor drills or partial solutions. It's time for the Legislature to send me a budget that solves our entire deficit without raising taxes."
It's sort of sun-rises-in-the-east news, since the governor had already said he did not favor further taxes or fees as part of the budget-balancing solution.
But it does blunt the effects of the squeeze play Democratic legislators were attempting. Even as Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-L.A., and Senate President Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, were meeting with Schwarzenegger Sunday night, the Assembly was passing a package of bills that made deep cuts in state spending, raised taxes on cigarettes, imposed a new tax on oil production and raised or imposed new fees on property insurance policies, vehicle registration and drivers licenses.
The Senate was set today to take up the bills.
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