Budget deadlock stalls Schwarzenegger agenda
Evan Halper
Los Angeles Times
The budget deadlock gripping the Capitol has put Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's policy agenda in jeopardy, with prospects for bringing healthcare to all Californians or solving the state's water problems dimming every day that lawmakers fail to pass a spending plan.
The impasse has brought legislative business to a standstill -- from the governor's sweeping proposals to lawmakers' efforts to enhance the quality of life for family pets. It threatens to transform what promised to be one of Sacramento's more productive years into a flop.
"Everything has been put on the sidelines," said Senate Leader Don Perata (D-Oakland). "No one would like to have a healthcare bill more than I would. But if we don't have a budget, nothing else matters."
Lawmakers are on summer break until Aug. 20, after which they will have only a few weeks left on the year's legislative calendar. They could be called back earlier to vote on a budget if Perata can strike a deal with his chamber's Republican leaders, who have been holding out for more spending cuts and changes in environmental laws. But that appears unlikely.
On Wednesday, as Senate Republicans renewed their latest demands, Perata shut down negotiations. And Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) said in a letter to upper house Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine that he would seek to restore cuts already agreed to if the Senate did not accept the bipartisan budget the Assembly passed last month.
Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledged that the stalemate might doom any proposals now on the table in Sacramento.
"If we don't have this thing resolved by the time we reconvene, we will not be doing any legislation," Perata said.
Ackerman concurred: "We shouldn't be doing other things until the budget is resolved."
August 9, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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