State Senate Starts Chipping Away At $20 Billion Deficit, Furloughs

SACRAMENTO -California lawmakers are expected to begin chiseling away at a $20 billion deficit as part of a special legislative session ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Democrats in the Senate scheduled budget votes Thursday that they say will prevent a cash crisis this spring.

Already, today, theyapproved a bill ending three-day-a-month furloughs for tens of thousands of state employees.

The legislation, which now goes to the Assembly, is part of a broader package of bills designed to create jobs.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat, says furloughing employees at agencies that collect taxes is costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost revenue.

His bill also would exempt employees at agencies that receive most of their budgets from fees or the federal government. Those include the Department of Motor Vehicles, where customers have seen their wait times increase since furloughs began last year.

The bill was approved on a 30-6 vote Thursday and would end furloughs for 80,000 state employees.

They have also proposed cuts to inmate health care, changes to the state gas tax and other measures that are designed to reduce the deficit by more than $5 billion. The Assembly is expected to act on similar measures next week.

It’s not clear whether Schwarzenegger will support all the proposals. Under the Democrats’ plan, the state would roll back recent corporate tax breaks to preserve some funding for transit agencies.