Perata Blasts GOP Over Budget Impasse

It’s looking more and more like Labor Day weekend will be just that for California’s Legislature: a weekend of work.

Senate Republicans just rejected a proposed Democratic budget, one that would have added a penny to the sales tax, increased reserves, restored some local law enforcement cuts and, in a concession to Arnold Schwarzenegger, given the governor limited authority to make mid-year budget cuts in tough years.

Everyone in and around the Senate knew the budget bill was DOA; Republicans have held firm that they’re not voting for any tax increase. But the show vote gave Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata the chance to unload on Republicans, blaming everyone from President George Bush to Schwarzenegger to Rep. Darrell Issa (financier of the Gray Davis recall) for California’s woes.

“We have had it with the administration telling us Republican senators demand more concessions to provide the votes, yet you've never said so yourselves,” Perata railed, then basically told the minority party to put up their own balanced budget or shut up. “Maybe while you’re at it, fall out of love with law enforcement,” he said.

“You’ve had your time in the sun. Now you’ll have your time in the frying pan,” Perata told his Republican colleagues.

Republicans’ response was about what you’d expect: “Today’s budget vote was neither courageous nor productive — it was more of the same from liberal politicians who would rather pick the pockets of hardworking families instead of cutting wasteful spending,” said Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines.

So there’s still no budget, and with no budget, Republicans won’t vote on a number of bills that need approval from two-thirds of lawmakers, even though the legislative session ends Sunday at midnight. That means more trouble for SB 1407, the Judicial Council’s $5 billion courthouse construction bond bill.

SB 1407 is stuck in the Assembly, where Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento, said this morning that he was definitely going to put it up for a vote. But when the bill came up on the agenda, legislative leaders took a pass on it. Whether it will come up later today, or whether the Legislature will come back to work this weekend to vote on it and other “stuck” bills is the $64,000 question right now.

Judges have been lobbying Republican lawmakers like crazy in recent days, but it’s not clear whether that will be enough. One rumor circulating in the Capitol is that conservative Republicans are pressuring their colleagues to vote against SB 1407 to show their anger with recent judicial decisions on gay marriage and the governor’s parole authority.

They may have secured enough “noes” to defeat SB 1407 even if it does come up for a vote. We’ll find out, but maybe not until this weekend.

—  Cheryl Miller