Overtures but no finale in budget soap opera

SACRAMENTO -- Lawmakers on Monday came close to ending the legislative stalemate that has left California without a budget for more than 50 days, but fell short of a deal after a flurry of negotiations that stretched into the night.

Despite offers from Democrats and the governor’s office to meet some of their demands, GOP senators refused to provide the two votes needed from their caucus for approval of a spending plan. The Republican legislators continued to hold out a month after the Assembly approved a bipartisan spending plan.

“There’s still a couple of issues we’re working on,” said Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine.

Early in the day, Ackerman had signaled that his caucus was close to signing off on a deal. Democrats said the proposal on the table met Republican demands to restrict lawsuits that could be filed against developers under landmark global warming legislation passed last year, and to increase funding to suburban school districts.

The tentative agreement, reached in a “Big Five” meeting between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders, also included assurance from the governor that he would use his line-item veto authority to cut $700 million in spending that Republican legislators found objectionable.

But by late evening, final agreement eluded legislators.

“This afternoon we had a Big Five meeting at 4:30 and agreed to a budget deal,” said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles). But he said Ackerman backed away from the deal soon after. “At this point, the only thing I can tell you is that we need to hope for a better tomorrow, and it requires a bit of guts on the part of all members of leadership.”

Nuñez also expressed frustration that the budget continues to be delayed over issues that have little to do with state spending. Democrats say the entire $145-billion budget should not have been held up over Republican complaints about environmental laws and a relatively small amount of money for suburban school districts.

“That type of politics, I think, ultimately is going to hurt the GOP,” Nuñez said.

The lack of a budget has forced the state to withhold billions of dollars in payments to healthcare providers, day-care facilities, nursing homes and other government contractors. Community colleges are also unable to access state funds until a budget is in place.

evan.halper@latimes.com