State Fails To Pass FY 2006 Budget by Friday Deadline
The Legislature has failed to pass a $115 billion fiscal year 2006 budget by the deadline Friday, despite a Thursday night vote by the Senate that fell short of the necessary two-thirds for approval, the Sacramento Bee reports. Lawmakers were still trying to reconcile budget disagreements, such as funding for home care workers for people with disabilities (Bluth, Sacramento Bee, 7/1).
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has proposed reducing the state's contribution to funds for home care workers' wages through the In-Home Support Services program by about $200 million. Democratic legislators' budget proposal would restore that funding (California Healthline, 6/30).
Schwarzenegger on Thursday afternoon held this fiscal year's first "Big Five" meeting with four top lawmakers to discuss the budget (Sacramento Bee, 7/1).
This marks the fifth consecutive year the state has failed to pass a budget by the deadline (Chorneau, AP/Orange County Register, 7/1).
Without a budget, the state will be unable to pay for $770 million in services in July, including $130 in Medi-Cal payments to counties (Gledhill, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/1).
Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland) said, "We have gotten what we wanted, a conversation straight up on the budget, not a conversation on a moving target. The governor has made a great gesture today by (being) willing to sit down and talk only about the budget. ... That's the kind of leadership that I think will lead to a quick budget" (Sacramento Bee, 7/1).
Republicans said the late-night meeting was a waste of time, saying that progress was being made on the budget and an agreement was near, the Los Angeles Times reports (Halper/Rau, Los Angeles Times, 7/1).
Several other newspapers also published articles about the budget. Headlines appear below.
- "Finding Final GOP Votes for State Budget More Difficult This Year" (Chorneau, AP/Modesto Bee, 7/1).
- "Budget Battle Is Being Waged Over Two Fiscal Years" (Mendel, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/1).
- "Deadline for Budget Slips Past Once Again" (Folmar/LaMar, San Jose Mercury News, 7/1).