State Budget Talks Stall, But Steinberg Gears Up for Senate Floor Vote
Budget negotiations between Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and a group of Republican lawmakers have broken down once again, and no additional talks have been scheduled, the Los Angeles Times' "PolitiCal" reports.
Budget Background
The governor is seeking GOP support for a special June election that would allow California voters to decide whether to extend certain taxes for five more years. So far, no Republicans have expressed support for the governor's plan (York, "PolitiCal," Los Angeles Times, 3/14).
Brown's budget proposal also calls for $12.5 billion in spending cuts to help close a $26.6 billion budget shortfall over 18 months. The plan includes more than $6 billion in cuts to health care and welfare-to-work services for low-income residents (California Healthline, 3/10).
Details of Negotiations
Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach), one of the lawmakers involved in the budget talks, said negotiations had stalled because of disagreements over whether to place measures to curb pensions and cap state spending on a June ballot.
Despite the lack of progress on a bipartisan agreement, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he would like to hold a floor vote on Brown's budget plan in the Senate this week (Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, 3/15).
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