I guess he was out getting a dicktionery.
Posted on 07/20/2004 3:48:49 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Even as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle prepared for a deepening of California's 20-day budget deadlock, party leaders emerged from a meeting Tuesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger with a tentative agreement on a key issue that has been holding up resolution of the state spending plan. Despite the harsh partisan rancor that has enveloped the Capitol during the last several days, officials say the handshake over how public schools can contract services with private companies could pave the way for a broader agreement on the last remaining hurdles facing budget negotiators.
"I think we are very close to an agreement," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles. "Like I said last Thursday, I felt we were a hop, skip and a jump away from an agreement. But obviously the rhetoric got in the way and the fireworks of the weekend are behind us.
"We're forging ahead," he said. "We think we are very close to a budget agreement."
Negotiations over the $103 billion budget have been stalled for much of the last three weeks on three issues - local government financing and the repeal of two labor laws.
The tentative agreement involves revising a law passed in 2002 that largely prohibits schools from hiring private companies to operate district bus systems and perform groundskeeping and janitorial duties.
Schwarzenegger and Republican lawmakers had sought a repeal of the law, but Assembly Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield said he believed his caucus would accept the proposed compromise in which schools would be allowed the contract out services but worker benefits and wages would also be protected.
The pending agreement comes only a few days after Schwarzenegger made national headlines when he attacked the Legislature's Democratic majority for holding up the budget and acting like "girlie men" because they would not stand up to special interests.
The governor's remarks drew widespread criticism among Democrats and fueled speculation that negotiations would be set back weeks before hard feelings could mend. Far from backing away from the attacks, Schwarzenegger's political aides were preparing Monday for more public rallies where the budget and Democratic resistance would be criticized - with the governor calling on voters to toss out Democratic lawmakers in the November election.
While it is unclear how much campaigning the governor will take up in the coming days, it appears that the partisan rhetoric has subsided - at least for now.
McCarthy said that the "girlie men" remark was not discussed in the meeting with the governor. Nunez said he preferred to leave the closed door conversation behind closed doors.
A glaring absence from the meeting was Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, arguably the Capitol's most powerful lawmaker.
Burton, who had developed a certain friendship with the Republican governor, said Monday that he was deeply disappointed in Schwarzenegger's remarks over the weekend and was worried the statement would set back budget talks two weeks.
Still left for negotiators is another labor law that Republicans have said they want to repeal: legislation signed by former Gov. Gray Davis during in last days in office that allows workers to take their employers to court over labor code violations.
Schwarzenegger said the law allows frivolous lawsuits and needs to go, while Democrats said it protects workers from dangerous working conditions at a time when there are far too few state regulators.
Burton and the bill's author, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, have been meeting with administration officials since last week on a compromise. Nunez said he believes they are also close to an agreement.
The last major hurdle, negotiators say, is local government financing - an issue that has been the biggest problem over the past three weeks.
At issue is $2.6 billion in savings that the governor needs from cities and counties to help close the state's estimated $17 billion budget deficit. Local officials have agreed to the cuts but only if the governor and the Legislature back a constitutional amendment that would protect city and county coffers from future state raids.
While there is agreement that local tax money should be kept local, there has been a dispute between Republicans and Democrats over how best to protect cities and counties.
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On the Net
Gov.'s home page: http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov-homepage.jsp
California Senate: http://www.sen.ca.gov/
California Assembly: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp
Then may we assume the 'girlie men' have regained their composure?
I guess at least some "girlie men" in CA decided that they could not take the heat from the Terminator?
Powerful girlie man? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
GO ARNIE...NOW GET ON THE GW SHIP!
John Burton is no more a friend of the Governor than Ted Kennedy is of the President.
Yeah.
Mean while they pass AB 2600 that would set up the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to take more land off the tax rolls hurting the funding of the very counties they claim to want to protect. To ensure willing sellers, they are passing AB 2631. Soviet style government coming to a county near you!
Nope the deal just fell through. It aint happening.
Nope. It fell through again.
I guess he was out getting a dicktionery.
But that's the problem with California --- it's been the girlie men who have held the power.
Too bad we can't post that sucker here. What a great column.
I didn't see anything in there about raising taxes in the agreement. Do some Freepers (once again) owe Arnold an apology?
I first saw it while waiting for my daughter-in-law at the Urgent Care Dr's. office.
CA was supposed to be in "Urgent Care!" The way all these "leaders" are "acting," it wouldn't even make a good "B" movie of ER!!!
If you'd change that tagline to "PBS," I'd be more inclined to agree with you.
As to apologizing to Governor MakeBelieve, of course he won't raise taxes, so I won't have to.
Instead, he's kicking the can down to the next administration who will claim to be forced to do it because of all the danged debt service... So we'll eventually get Schwarzenagger induced taxes and then I'll be looking for an apology from you... maybe. I won't hold my breath, however!!!
sigh... Nice try, but no cigar. ;-)
I don't agree with either part of that set of statements.
Altho since Arnold has gone Hollywood and been willing to get back to basics when confronting Rat infestations, I must admit at least he has folks talking about what a pitiful lot of politicos sit on the left side of the house in the Capitol.
btw,, The number of local parcel tax measures on the ballots have increased and will the next few years along with other rvenue enhancement measures.. and college fees are up..
Not withstanding any vetos that are made to any specific funding in the state budget, you're still looking at the largest budget ever. I don't think that's anything to crow over.
Allowing the borrowing of umpteen billion to forestall the dismantling of a runaway government on steroids and then making no significant cuts to a large number of social programs and expressing an avowed desire to keep things as they are program-wise (education,prisons,environment) including continued support for illegals is slightly more than troublesome.
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