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It possible that the longest ever gridlock in deciding California’s budget may have an end in sight. The State Assembly and Senate both passed a compromise deal in a late night session last night going into the early hours of this morning. Part of the problem has been the 2/3 majority required by state law to pass a budget – a voter approved safeguard that has prevented the slight Democratic majority in the Legislature from making budgetary decisions on its own. The other part of the problem is the gaping $15.2 billion budgetary shortfall, $6 billion of which was created by Governor Schwarzenegger’s rescinding of the car tax a few years ago. While the details of the tentative deal between Democrats and Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate, have yet to be made public, leaked details bode ill for health services in the state. Additionally, there is talk in Sacramento of diverting bond money that voters approved for public works projects in order to balance the budget. The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized that the budget deal “reaches new heights in trick accounting, banks on a fairy-tale financial future and caves in to a subset of hidebound politicos.” It is not known whether the Governor plans to sign the budget.

GUEST: Frank Russo, publisher of the California Progress Report. For more information, visit www.californiaprogressreport.com.