The Sacramento Bee is reporting that Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has reached a deal with the Governor on a budget. All that remains is for the Governor to convince enough Republicans to vote for it:
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said today that Democrats have negotiated key points of a compromise state budget with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and that he considers negotiations over.
“I think we’ve, frankly, gone about as far as we can go,” the Oakland Democrat said.
Perata said the compromise plan includes a major concession by Democrats – a spending cap to limit annual state expenditures.
Republicans have been insisting on a spending cap as part of any budget pact.
“The question continues to be, are there Republican votes for it?” Perata said of the compromise plan.
The ball is in Schwarzenegger’s court, he suggested.
“A Republican governor should have some sway over Republicans,” he said.
Other key elements of the compromise plan include a temporary 1-cent increase in the state sales tax and a rainy-day fund to sock money away in boom years.
Perata did not elaborate on details of the proposed spending cap, but said it was intended to break the current standoff with Republicans.
“We’ve said to the governor, ‘What do you need in order to move forward?’ So we’ve negotiated on that point,” Perata said.
“I’ll guarantee you that there won’t be anybody in the house that’s going to be happy with the conclusion. But it is a compromise – new revenues and program cuts, and no borrowing.”
Perata said the negotiated proposal does not grant the governor authority to make midyear budget cuts if the economy nosedives.
“We’ve always said that we’re not doing anything that gives away the legislative responsibility for appropriating money in the budget,” he said.
Perata said the next step is to place the compromise spending plan before the Senate for a vote.
He said that no vote will be taken today, however, and that he did not want to call for a vote if the proposal was certain to die.
Passage of a state budget requires a two-thirds vote in each legislative house.
“When we go (for a vote), we’re going because it’s a budget that the governor can get some votes for,” Perata said.
