It also includes a semantically appealing solution to the issue of tax increases:
About $2 billion in measures that add new money to the state treasury.Lawmakers have called these "revenue enhancements" to avoid calling them tax increases and appeal to Republicans and their constituents.
"Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge, acknowledged Saturday that he is one of the four Republicans who plan to vote for the budget deal.
Richman, a first-term lawmaker, said he didn't think it would hurt him politically to break with Republicans and vote for the budget.
``This is the right budget,'' Richman said. ``This is a more fiscally prudent budget than the one submitted by the governor.''
One condition of Richman's support -- putting to voters a constitutional amendment steering a gradually increasing percentage of its general budget to schools, highways, parks and water projects starting in 2006 -- cleared the Assembly Saturday by a 75-0 vote. It needed to be passed by the Senate before the Assembly budget vote would be taken off call, and that had not happened by 11:15 p.m."