Gov. demands pensions fix, threatens budget holdup ‘into November’

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On the day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his May budget proposal, he warned state lawmakers that “I will not sign a budget if we don’t have pension reform and budget reform.”

Ever since, his administration has tried to insert a comment about public pensions -- and the need to curb them -- into nearly every story coming out of Sacramento. Schwarzenegger reiterated his budget threat Sunday -- and then some -- in an interview with Politico.

“I will hold up the budget. It doesn’t matter how long it drags -- into the summer or fall or into November or after my administration -- and I think the people will support that,” he said.

The gubernatorial bluster comes almost a year to the day after he vowed to bring California government to a “grinding halt” last summer while seeking leverage over the Legislature in budget talks.That year’s budget was resolved six weeks or so later, after the state had to issue IOUs to hundreds of thousands of California residents and businesses.

The constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass the state budget is June 15. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento