Arguing that the furloughs of tens of thousands of state workers is "costing the state money and further hurting the economy," the leader of the state Senate says he intends to push a plan to trim the three days of furloughs every month down to two.
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A cease-fire to the water wars that have lasted for most of California's modern existence. A prison overcrowding problem that's about to be yanked from state control by federal judges. A broad expansion of California's commitment to sources of renewable energy.

All that in ten days. Really?
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For those who wanted a quick fix to California's prison woes, some advice: don't hold your breath.

Eleven days after the state Senate narrowly approved a wide-ranging plan to change the prison system, the Assembly has now approved a much narrower version... one which seems destined to sit for a little while, as policy and politics matters are sorted out.
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It won't be the only proposal before the Legislature on Thursday, but it will definitely be the main event: a plan to save money and lower the population of California's prisons.

That plan, endorsed both by legislative Democrats, is expected to be heard first in the Senate and later Thursday in the Assembly. A spokesperson for Governor Schwarzenegger would only say that for now, administration support depends on whether the bill conforms to Schwarzenegger's prison reform framework.
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That was the sentiment this morning from the President pro Tempore of the California Senate, universally known as a nice guy but perhaps ready to make sure that no one equates nice guy with pushover.

Implicit in that comment from Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is that Governor Schwarzenegger's public prodding on a number of pending issues won't help; one wonders, too, how it will affect the work in private, beginning with this afternoon's 'Big 5' leadership meeting.
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The big finish to the 2009 Deficit Drama Part Two is on the way, a $25 billion cornucopia of lousy choices, tough decisions, and general gloominess about the state's deficit problems.

So let's see where things stand.
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If you took out a calculator, added up some numbers, and hit "equals," you'd expect an answer that was indisputable, right?

Now imagine there were certain buttons on the calculator that would make the math turn out differently. Or suppose you and a friend just agreed the calculator's result was flawed and from now on you'd tweak it. Or suppose the two of you couldn't even agree on what numbers to enter into the calculator.

If all of that was the case... would you use that process to spend as much as $50 billion in taxpayer money? No? Then read no further... because you're not going to like what's after the jump.
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That was the assessment of Assembly Speaker Karen Bass as negotiations over the state's massive budget deficit ended tonight with no deal, a major change in tone from earlier in the day when a deal seemed imminent.

The 'Big Five' meeting of legislative leaders and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ended just before 10:00 p.m., with Democrats saying that future payments to public schools are now a key sticking point.
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The battle over California's gaping budget hole is probably going to get more intense before it ends... as just about everyone thinks someone else is to blame.
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It was an unusual ending to a long day, the final day of the 2008-2009 fiscal year. But there was no surprise ending: the conventional wisdom won out, as the state slipped into the new budget year with no solutions in place to a deficit that could be as large as $24 billion.
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