California budget stalemate continues after talks fail
2009-02-16

Category Budget Time Year Nations U.S. City Sacramento San Francisco States California Category Regions County Sacramento County San Francisco County Metropolitan Sacramento Metro San Francisco Metro People Arnold Schwarzenegger Category 2007 Source (AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - California legislators will return to the table on Monday after unprecedented weekend talks aimed at easing the state's budget crisis ended in deadlock.

Weary lawmakers sat for more than 24 hours in Sacramento in an effort to hammer out a budget that would help fill a projected 42-billion-dollar deficit that has California on the brink of fiscal collapse.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders had crafted a package that includes more than 14 billion dollars in new taxes, 16 billion dollars in spending cuts and 11 billion dollars in borrowing.

But the package fell one vote short of the two-thirds required under California law to pass a budget or impose new taxes.

That impasse kept legislators in session from Saturday evening until Sunday evening. Some lawmakers slept at their desks after being locked into their chambers.

Finally, with no sign that a legislator was going to switch and provide the vote needed for passage, the legislature was adjourned until Monday morning.

Schwarzenegger and the legislature have struggled for more than 100 days to find a way of closing the huge deficit.

The state is running out of cash, forcing Controller John Chiang to halt tax refunds and threaten to stop paying bills. Without a budget, other state services might come to a halt.

Legislative leaders had thought they could get three Republicans in the state Senate to break their promise never to raise taxes and vote for the package, which would raise the state sales tax by 1 cent for the next two years and raise gasoline taxes by 12 cents a gallon.

But doing so would put those senators at risk of alienating their conservative supporters.

"There is no reason for this budget not to be done except for the fact that a couple of individuals have elevated their individual political careers above the state of California," said Democrat Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

"They are willing to let the state of California go off a cliff because they are concerned about their next primary."