KPCC News In Brief

Schwarzenegger orders state lawmakers not to go to conventions until budget is passed

Governor Schwarzenegger’s ordering state lawmakers to stay put. After a budget discussion with legislative leaders today, he said he doesn’t want them to go anywhere, including next week’s Democratic National Convention, until they pass a spending plan.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “I think the key thing here is to stay here and come up with a compromise, and I know that’s very difficult for them, and I know that many times they have been in that situation in the past, but I think the key thing is to stay here – I don’t want them to leave until the job is done.”

As part of the deal, the governor wants changes to the budget process. Voters will have to approve those, and the governor wants the changes on the November ballot. His spokesman said the governor thinks lawmakers have until Sunday to pull together a budget deal and still make the ballot deadline.

For more than two months since the budget deadline, lawmakers have been grappling with a $15 billion budget gap. Democrats favor tax increases to fix it. Republican say they won’t vote for a budget with new taxes.

Tools

• August 19, 2008 5:09 PM
• Categories: Politics/Public Affairs