Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the new Legislature in to work on its first day, declaring a fiscal emergency Monday in response to the state's deteriorating finances and urging lawmakers to "get off of their rigid ideologies." How about your multi-billion dollar Global Warming spending?
But even as Schwarzenegger warned that California could run out of cash within two months, there was little indication that the Capitol's partisan gridlock has waned enough to allow for an easy resolution to the state's $28-billion budget gap.
Republican lawmakers, who last week blocked a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, healthcare and welfare programs while tripling the vehicle license fee, quickly reiterated their opposition to any new taxes, which both Schwarzenegger and Democrats say are indispensable. Democratic legislators again dismissed some of Schwarzenegger's proposals to ease labor rules on business in order to boost the economy.