Capitol Alert: Steinberg: Don't use the 'D-word' to describe Tuesday vote

Don't call Tuesday's budget exercise a drill. So says Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, who was so afraid of that characterization that he referred Monday to the criticism as "the D-word."

"We should not end this formal legislative session without having a full floor debate and votes on our respective visions of California," Steinberg said. "I know the 'D-word' gets used all the time, and I reject that."

Plenty of people have been scratching their heads about why legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to hold floor votes tomorrow on competing budget plans. After all, neither Republicans nor Democrats have the requisite votes to pass their plans off the floor, and two Democratic members who have health issues will remain at home.

But, stuck at an impasse, the "Big Five" leaders feel that a floor vote may be just the thing to get their compromise juices flowing.

"I think it could be cathartic," Steinberg said. "And you know, hopefully it will lead sooner than later to a negotiated solution. The thing is, we would all like to be done with this. I don't think there's any political benefit to this continuing. But the differences are very real, and they relate to our respective views about the importance of public investment in making California great."

Lawmakers will not vote Tuesday on tax hikes, although they will vote on a Democratic spending plan that relies on about $4.5 billion in higher taxes.

Sen. Bob Dutton, who will soon take over as Senate Republican Leader, criticized the vote in an op-ed piece in the San Bernardino Sun. "In the event of a real budget vote, the Democrats would actually have to make some of these difficult decisions and painful choices," he wrote. "But this is only a drill."

An Assembly Democratic aide said Monday that legislators could vote for the Democratic budget and "technically" not commit to higher taxes. The premise being that said legislators could say they want to use alternative revenues like borrowing to fund the Democratic spending plan.

But Steinberg said he wasn't playing political games.

"I think they are voting for everything that is assumed within the (Democratic) budget, certainly," Steinberg said of members who vote for the Democratic budget bill Tuesday. "The other side will say undoubtedly, 'Put up the revenue bills directly.' Here's my answer: if we have a two-thirds budget vote, we'll put it up immediately. It's not a game, though. I will acknowledge that yes, a vote for the Democratic budget acknowledges the fact that you can't do it responsibly with the kinds of cuts being called for by the governor and the Republicans."