Sep 8, 2008 9:47 pm US/Pacific
California State Senate Rejects GOP Budget Plan
SACRAMENTO (AP) ―
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State Capitol in Sacramento.
The latest proposal to end the state's record-long budget stalemate failed in the Senate on Monday, leaving California without a spending plan more than two months into its fiscal year.
The Republican plan defeated Monday called for closing the state's $15.2 billion deficit without raising taxes. Instead, Republicans proposed spending cuts and borrowing from state lottery revenue.
After a 90-minute debate, 13 Republicans voted for the plan, with 21 Democrats opposed. Six lawmakers, including four absent Democrats, did not vote.
The bill's defeat comes 10 days after Republicans rejected a Democratic plan that included a 1 cent sales tax increase over three years to help close a $15.2 billion deficit. The Democrats' plan was similar to one proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Republicans said raising taxes would harm an already stumbling economy.
"Now is not the time to increase taxes on the people of this state," said Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto. "We continue to be united around this fact that we think taxes are the absolute wrong way to go."
Instead, Republicans proposed $1.6 billion in additional cuts beyond the $10 billion offered by Schwarzenegger and Democrats. They also advocated borrowing about $1.8 billion from state lottery proceeds.
Republicans have insisted on a spending cap and giving the governor authority to make cuts in the middle of the fiscal year when revenue slides.
Democrats said the cuts in the Republican plan were too deep. They also argued that the proposal to borrow from the lottery is likely illegal. Because the lottery was enacted by voters, any change might have to go back to the ballot.
In addition, borrowing money from the lottery merely delays the state's fiscal problem into next year, Democrats said.
Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield was one of two Republicans who did not cast a vote. He opposes borrowing from the lottery, which could cost the state nearly $150 million annually for 30 years to repay.
"This budget relies on borrowing and will indebt our children and grandchildren for the next 30 years," Ashburn said after the vote.
Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, said in a statement that he did not cast a vote because the Republican plan would cut education spending.
A previous Democratic budget proposal that advocated tax increases on the wealthy and corporations failed in the Assembly.
The Republican governor issued a statement calling for Democratic leaders to allow a vote on the compromise he offered last month, something they have declined to do.
Schwarzenegger's plan calls for the sales tax increase but would roll it back a quarter percent from its current level after three years. It also would give the governor sole authority to make midyear cuts, provisions that were not in the Democratic budget plan that failed to pass earlier.
No other budget bills are scheduled to come before the Assembly or Senate.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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