Politics

Schwarzenegger Slams Lawmakers On Overdue Budget

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying a new tactic in his effort to coax state lawmakers into a compromise on California's overdue state budget: public reproach.

The Republican governor on Tuesday chastised legislative leaders for not moving more swiftly to address the state's $15.2 billion budget shortfall. He noted that lawmakers are now a month beyond the June 15 constitutional deadline to present a state spending plan.

"What are they waiting for? We need to get going," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference unrelated to the state budget. "People are disappointed about the budget, and then they wonder why their poll numbers are down. Because we've got to deliver. ... I can only get the horse to the water, but I can't make it drink."

Reiterating Republicans' opposition to any new taxes, Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill responded: "We're not going to drink any tax increases."

Cogdill, a Republican from Modesto, told the Sacramento Press Club on Tuesday that Republicans are willing to meet whenever, wherever and for however long it takes to reach a compromise on the budget.

While GOP leaders are holding fast against tax and fee increases, Democrats have proposed raising taxes by $8 billion to balance the budget.

Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said California's budget requires a two-thirds majority in both houses to pass, so Democrats must forge a deal with Republicans—unlike the governor, who can release his own spending plan.

"We're interested in getting the budget done correctly, not swiftly," he said. "The (Legislative Analyst's Office) has said his numbers don't add up. So we're taking the time to craft a budget that is serious and responsible."

Both parties also seem to have abandoned for this year the core aspect of Schwarzenegger's budget-balancing strategy—closing the shortfall by selling bonds based on future revenues of the state lottery. Scrapping that plan means lawmakers have to craft a budget that is much different from the one Schwarzenegger proposed two months ago.

Schwarzenegger has been meeting one-on-one with the four legislative leaders, but has mostly refrained from holding meetings of the so-called "Big 5" to bring all the leaders together.

Cogdill said lawmakers already are under pressure to strike a deal by Aug. 1. If there is no budget in place by then, California will have to start borrowing money.

Schwarzenegger didn't end his criticism with the budget, though. He said lawmakers haven't reached any substantive deals on major policy issues this year, such as health care or addressing the state's water shortage. He's pushing a $9.3 billion water package he wrote with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein that they hope to place on the November ballot.

"In the end, we've got to show the people of California that something can be accomplished this year, because so far it has been a vacuum," Schwarzenegger said. "It is very important that the legislators, before they go on vacation, they ask themselves, 'Do we really deserve a vacation?"'

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)