Sacramento
California lawmakers this week rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan for balancing the budget, handing him his first major political defeat. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, called his Democratic opponents “spending addicts.” He wanted to hold a March referendum on the cornerstones of his plan—a $15 billion bond issue to cover the state’s debt, and a constitutional amendment limiting future spending. Since the lawmakers refused to schedule the referendum, aides said, the governor would bypass the Legislature by gathering signatures to get the measures on the ballot in November. State Treasurer Phil Angelides said that borrowing so much money would be a disaster. “Fifteen billion dollars is not chicken feed,” he said.
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