California Budget Crisis Diaries: Day 14 of the budget impasse

One can find much change in California in just 48 hours. That’s right, 48 hours and nothing less because state legislators are now pulling all-nighters until a budget agreement is made. Here’s what happened since Day 12 of the budget impasse.

All-nighters: The Big 5 (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and party leaders) have been meeting throughout the day until the wee hours of the morning. Although the Democrats still want tax increases and the Republicans still want more cuts, leaders of both parties have said, “progress has been made.” Furthermore, state leaders are still optimistic a budget agreement may be reached as early as Friday.

Step aside Steinberg, Bass is here: As budget negotiations get hotter, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) is stepping into the lime light, more so now than her caucus colleague Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento). Most recently, Bass spent some time with reporters earlier this week discussing what’s been happening in the closed-session Big 5 meetings. She has even spoken on behalf of Steinberg.

“The Pro Tem and I are absolutely committed to solving this deficit,” Bass said. “But we are not going to destroy the safety net in the course of the present deficit.” Read more