SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the new Legislature in to work on its first day, declaring a fiscal emergency Monday in response to the state's deteriorating finances and urging lawmakers to "get off of their rigid ideologies."
But even as Schwarzenegger warned that California could run out of cash within two months, there was little indication that the Capitol's partisan gridlock has waned enough to allow for an easy resolution to the state's $28-billion budget gap.
Republican lawmakers, who last week blocked a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, healthcare and welfare programs while tripling the vehicle license fee, quickly reiterated their opposition to any new taxes, which both Schwarzenegger and Democrats say are indispensable. Democratic legislators again dismissed some of Schwarzenegger's proposals to ease labor rules on business in order to boost the economy.
"Now, I compare the situation that we are in right now to finding an accident victim on the side of the road that is bleeding to death," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at his Los Angeles office. "We wouldn't spend hours debating over which ambulance we should use, or which hospital we would use, or which treatment the patient needs. No, we would first stop the bleeding, and that's exactly the same thing we have to do here."
Schwarzenegger said immediate action is essential because although the state projects a $28-billion deficit by mid-2010, California is on track to run out of cash by February or March. He said that if lawmakers fail to act within 45 days as required under his declaration of a fiscal emergency, they will have to find an additional $1.5 billion to $2 billion in savings or new revenue above what is needed right now. He said the administration is already drawing up plans to lay off state workers.
"It's like an avalanche, that it gains momentum," he said.
The November elections changed little in the partisan standoff. Democrats picked up three seats in the 80-member Assembly, bringing their majority to 51, still three short of the two-thirds needed to pass fiscal measures.
No seats changed hands in the 40-member Senate, where there are only 24 sitting Democrats because Mark Ridley-Thomas was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, leaving a vacancy. That means Senate Democrats will now have to win over three Republicans -- one more than before -- to pass a budget.
