Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Schwarzenegger calls Legislators for Emergency Budget Session

From LA Times.com:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set Nov. 5 -- the day after next week's election -- as the start of an emergency legislative session to address the state budget deficit, which has swelled by several billion dollars in recent weeks as the stock market has continued its tumble and the economy has soured.

Schwarzenegger said this year's deficit will be "much more" than the $3 billion that state officials projected two weeks ago. Capitol budget analysts say preliminary data indicate the problem will probably grow to at least $10 billion.

The governor and legislative leaders made the announcement to reporters in the hallway outside Schwarzenegger's office, where they had been meeting in private to discuss the fiscal crisis. They said that in the coming days they also will form a commission to study ways to restructure the state tax code to make revenue more stable

Schwarzenegger's move comes a month after lawmakers passed the current budget and adjourned until December, when the next class of lawmakers is scheduled to begin work. But the governor said state revenues are dropping so fast that he and legislative leaders decided to call a lame-duck session.

"The situation is far more severe than it was when we were negotiating the budget" over the summer, Schwarzenegger said.