Thursday, September 11, 2008

A State w/o a Budget: Day 73 (cont.)

Sac Bee Capitol Alert | Sept 11, 2008

Neither the Assembly or Senate has session scheduled for today, after Democratic lawmakers in both houses voted down GOP budget proposals earlier this week.

So how far are Democrats from wooing enough GOP votes for their own tax-raising plans?

Well, pretty far, especially if the offensive conservatives have mounted against the California Taxpayers' Association is any indication. The 82-year old group endorsed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's compromise proposal, which is built around a three-year 1-cent sales tax hike, followed by a permanent 1.25-cent cut.

Thirty-one of the 32 Assembly Republicans co-signed a letter blasting the taxpayers' group for "a cynical political calculation" in backing the plan.

The only GOP non-signer? Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian of Stockton, who just so happens to be running for state Senate in a Democratic-leaning district.

There may be no budget yet, but the state's bureaucracy continues to lumber along.

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