The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Rich Pedroncelli - AP After the Legislatures approval of the state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger removes the numbers from the "deficit clock," outside his Capitol office in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday. Schwarzenegger had the clock installed 106 days ago to count the number of days that the Legislature failed to act since he declared a special session to deal with the states fiscal problems.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Legislature on Thursday approved a plan to close a $42 billion budget deficit after an epic impasse that involved several all-night sessions, sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a package of bills that raises taxes and cuts spending. It was not immediately clear when Schwarzenegger would sign the bills.

During an afternoon news conference, the Republican governor praised the effort to forge a compromise. It required Democrats to back away from their opposition to deep spending cuts and some Republican lawmakers to set aside their opposition to tax increases.

He called the Legislature's work, after a grueling week of late-night sessions, courageous.

"Now, instead of worrying every day only about IOUs and about red ink, we can start moving California forward once again. This action to solve our $42 billion deficit was difficult but courageous and just what California needs," he said. "This is the perfect medicine for our ailing economy, and it will boost public confidence in California, reassure the financial community and allow us to start selling bonds and rebuild our state."

Shortly after the plan passed the Legislature, Schwarzenegger emerged from his office and disconnected a large deficit clock counting the number of days - 106 as of Thursday - that the Legislature had failed to act since he declared a special session to deal with the state's fiscal problems.

The budget deal flew through the Assembly less than an hour after it won approval by a single vote in the Senate after late-night horse-trading to win over a final Republican vote. The vote marked the end of the Senate's longest session at 45½ hours.

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