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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

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California assembly speaker tries to explain the budget debacle

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California assembly speaker tries to explain the budget debacle

On the day Governor Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal state of emergency, California assembly speaker Karen Bass says he missed an opportunity to back a compromise budget.

Karen Bass: "The governor did not give the Senate Republicans the green light to vote for the bill we, they stayed in session almost until midnight. They thought the votes were there and then all of a sudden they evaporated. I will tell you too that the package that we sent the governor, he said he didn’t want taxes, you know we didn’t send him taxes. We sent him a full package that could have addressed the deficit that we are in now minus the taxes."

Bass spoke with KPCC’s Patt Morrison. The governor’s ordered Sacramento lawmakers into a special session to address a budget gap in excess of $26 billion dollars.

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