Gov. Schwarzenegger's attempt to persuade the legislature to put a package of two referenda on the March ballot failed on Friday. One would have refinanced about $11 billion in current debt and added another $4 billion in debt to fund ongoing programs and the $4 billion vehicle license fee reduction that Schwarzenegger already enacted. Apparently there may be some wiggle-room on the Dec. 5 deadline the secretary of state had established. But it doesn't sound from this morning's news like a last-minute deal is very likely.
It was a bipartisan rejection. Republicans in the California legislature haven't yet achieved the monolithic unity that Congressional Republicans have been showing lately. Schwazenegger has been relying on his appeal to the voters and threats to go over the legislature's heads with ballot initiative proposals. But he will need some amount of discipline among member of his own party in the legislature if he's going to be able to govern effectively.
The San Francisco Chronicle has had surprisingly good coverage of the budget issues, and its news article on Friday's impasse gives a good summary of the factual situation: Governor loses battle on budget. The article also gives some good attention to the budget cap proposal that Scwarzenegger is pushing, which includes an idea revived from Pete Wilson's time to give the governor sweeping power over the budget and even taxation (my emphasis):
<< The Republican plan would freeze spending at current levels and allow increases based on population growth and inflation. It also would allow Schwarzenegger and future governors to make unilateral mid-year spending cuts and even raise taxes by fiat, giving the Legislature 30 days to veto his plans by a two-thirds vote before they would become law. >>
(Cont. in Part 2)
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