California: Lockyer

I talked to a few people today, only one of whom would go on the record, and here's what I'm hearing: -- The Assembly isn't close to having its budget act together. Budget committee chairwoman Noreen Evans' comments on the...

One of the complexities buried deep in the budget proposal adopted by the Legislature last month is a trigger that will reduce the volume of cuts and tax increases in the plan.

In short, the state must receive $10 billion in federal aid to avoid those cuts and taxes.

In today's Bee, Kevin Yamamura reports that "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Department of Finance estimated Wednesday that California will not receive enough federal stimulus money" by about $2 billion.

But Finance has only one of the two deciding votes; the other is granted to the state treasurer.

As Yamamura reports, "It's not clear what happens if the two men can't agree."

Here's how State Treasurer Bill Lockyer's Web site describes the trigger:

Lockyer is soliciting public feedback here. A hearing is set for March 17 with a final decision due by April 1.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer voiced a fear that many Democrats hold privately -- that the high price paid to corral the final GOP vote for the budget could set a poor precedent for future negotiations.

"Frankly, I think this is just the beginning of serious budget holdups in the future," Lockyer, a Democrat and former Senate leader, told Greg Lucas of California's Capitol. "If you're willing to rewrite the constitution to get a needed vote, the antes will only keep going up.

That's a reference to deciding Republican vote, Sen. Abel Maldonado, who received a constitutional amendment on a future ballot to rewrite the state's elections law.