The California Legislature’s constitutional deadline for passing a balanced budget arrives Friday at midnight. But so far, there’s no deal between Democratic leaders and Governor Jerry Brown. But they’re not far apart

 

“A couple hundred million dollars.” That’s how Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg described the gap between the two sides Thursday, with the remaining differences being welfare and child care.

 

“We are close. We have more work to do,” Steinberg says.  “And we are going to meet our constitutional deadline, go forward tomorrow, and we’ll continue to talk on a parallel track and see what happens.”

 

Meanwhile, the sides are coming together on other areas of disagreement. For example, the governor had proposed a seven percent cut to in-home supportive services prompting days of protests from IHSS workers and their clients. Steinberg says the latest spending plan will have a three-and-a-half percent cut with deeper reductions set for future years.

 

Deal or no deal, Democratic leaders say they’ll pass a budget by midnight.