No budget deal in California, another deadline missed
Monday June 30, 2003
By TOM CHORNEAU
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO (AP) Carrying on an inglorious tradition dating back decades, California lawmakers will end the fiscal year Monday again without a new budget in place.
The situation is not unique, in fact, six other states Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon and Pennsylvania have also not adopted a budget by the July 1 deadline.
While each state has its own set of political conditions, nowhere are the stakes higher than California.
Facing a record $38.2 billion budget shortfall and operating for the first time completely on borrowed money, lawmakers appeared no closer to solving the state's fiscal crisis than they were months ago.
Without a new budget, the state is unable legally to make millions of dollars in on-time payments to schools, community colleges, courts, state suppliers and others.
The salaries of the governor, the legislators, state appointees and about 1,000 non-civil service employees will also stop Tuesday, although most of the state's 200,000 workers will continue receiving their full pay at least for now.
State Controller Steve Westly says the state only has enough cash to get them through mid-August.
Gov. Gray Davis, who spent the weekend in New York celebrating his mother's 80th birthday, expressed disappointment that the deadline was not met.
[b]``We still have an opportunity to find common ground. Failure to do so would be irresponsible and dangerous,'' Davis said.[/b] ``Critical funding for hospitals, nursing homes, community colleges and small businesses is at stake.''
But the likelihood of a budget agreement anytime soon appears remote. Democrats, who hold big majorities in both houses, need Republican support to approve a spending plan. California is one of the few states that require two-thirds majority approval for the budget and Republicans have more than enough votes to block passage as long as they want.
Two Republicans in the state Senate and six in the Assembly will eventually be needed to make a compromise.
Davis has proposed a budget plan that includes a mix of service cuts, borrowing and higher taxes to bridge the gap.
Republicans say they won't support new taxes, while Democrats are unwilling to cut enough to balance the budget without new taxes.
Last week a near-$100 billion budget from Democrats was shot down twice in the Senate. Republican Senate leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga said even with a half-cent increase in the sales tax, spending was still more than $10 billion out of balance with income.
A similar Democratic budget plan drew little interest in the Assembly last Friday and although leadership said they would spend the weekend in negotiations, no new ideas are on the horizon.
California lawmakers have missed the state's constitutional deadline of June 15 for adoption of a budget 18 times in the last 22 years. The Legislature has begun the new fiscal year without a plan in place nine times in the past 13 years.
Last year's budget was delayed a record 76 days.