Talks to Halt State Budget Deadlock Continue

Legislative leaders continued to work on the final details of a state budget agreement Thursday, after a Democratic proposal that closely resembled Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s spending plan was blocked by Republicans in the Legislature on Wednesday.

They said no final deal is likely to be reached before next week, and lawmakers not involved in negotiations left the Capitol for their districts. Republicans are pushing to eliminate the roughly $1 billion in spending Democrats added to the governor’s budget bill.

“I’m getting briefings every couple of hours of what is going on,” said Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine. “We are trying to come to consensus.”

Democrats “have already met Republicans more than half way,” Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) said in a speech before the Sacramento Press Club on Thursday. “We’ve gotten the ball to the goal line.... The only problem is that Republicans have decided to move the goal posts farther out.”

Ackerman said the GOP will sign off on a budget bill when Democrats remove the additional spending. The new fiscal year begins July 1, and if a budget is not in place by then the state starts withholding payments to schools and vendors.

If the Democrats don’t budge, Ackerman said, the budget will be late. “Then the question is ... is that going to help or hurt us in a special election? It is clearly going to help, but we want an on-time budget.”

Schwarzenegger this week ordered a special election to be held Nov. 8. The ballot will feature three measures the governor wants, including spending controls on the state budget, and several other initiatives.