"Hopefully, the Republicans will have enough sense to vote for it because it's going to be a very strong budget," Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said after participating in budget talks on Thursday. "They're going to have to defend their opposition if they decide not to vote for it."

With a monthlong legislative recess scheduled to begin July 20, Núñez said he canceled his vacation plans and warned lawmakers to brace for a long summer that will require them to stay within two hours of the Capitol.

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis painted a more optimistic outlook Thursday after meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss the stalemate.

He said Democrats need to show a willingness to restrain growth in programs.

"I think we made progress," he said. "You feel like you move two steps forward and one step back, and we might get it done by next week."

While Democrats hold a majority in the Legislature, a handful of Republicans are needed for a two-thirds vote to approve the budget.

Republicans say they submitted $2.2 billion worth of additional cuts and savings to the Democrats' $104.4 billion proposal but have largely been ignored by the majority party. The GOP has declined to make its list of cuts public.

Democrats, who refuse to cut social welfare programs, say the GOP governor should resolve problems with the Republican lawmakers.

"This is a fight between Republicans and Republicans," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.

But Schwarzenegger's communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, said the legislative leaders need to resolve this on their own. In May, the governor submitted a $103.8 billion plan that proposed, in part, cutting social services to help narrow the state's operational deficit.

"The Legislature is a co-equal branch of government, and we respect their constitutional responsibility in developing and passing a budget," Mendelsohn said.

"It's important the leaders continue to negotiate and work through their differences."

Núñez said Democrats will make some changes to their budget bill in hopes of appeasing Republicans next week but won't "take the canes away from the blind" or "kick people out of their wheelchairs."

By Judy Lin, The Sacramento Bee
July 13, 2007