SACRAMENTO — An emergency session called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to address the state's budget crisis ended Tuesday night in bickering and party division. Legislators adjourned without taking any action that improves the state's finances.
The state's estimated budget shortfall has swelled to $28 billion through the middle of 2010.
Democrats in the Senate and Assembly had proposed a package that would have wiped out most of the deficit by tripling car license fees and by cutting billions of dollars from schools, healthcare, welfare and other government services.
The plan failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed for passage, however.
The proposal would also have temporarily increased income taxes on Californians earning more than $40,000 by $79 to $200 per year.
In the end, GOP lawmakers balked at raising taxes.
Democrats had presented the bill after efforts by legislative leaders and the governor to reach a bipartisan compromise collapsed Monday night.
"It's like a kindergarten up there," said Schwarzenegger, speaking to a group of reporters outside his Capitol office, a floor below the Assembly and Senate chambers.
"I am very disappointed that the legislators failed the people of California," he said.
Schwarzenegger, who had proposed a separate budget plan that included billions of dollars in new and increased taxes on sales, alcoholic beverages and oil companies, said he would have vetoed the package crafted by the Democrats.
The proposal did not include measures Schwarzenegger said are needed to stimulate the economy, including easing of state labor laws and a tax break for film companies.
But the inability of lawmakers to pass any legislation in the emergency session Schwarzenegger called highlighted his limited influence in the Capitol.
Not a single Republican indicated they would support the level of tax hikes called for by the governor and Democrats under any circumstances.
"It is irresponsible to ask taxpayers for another dime of their hard-earned money, especially when we haven't put the microscope on state spending," said Senate Republican Leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto.
Tuesday's gathering of the full Assembly and Senate was the last opportunity for the lame-duck Legislature to address the state's massive budget problem.
A new class of lawmakers takes office Dec. 1, and state officials say no legislative business can take place in the intervening days, while they are updating computer systems.
