Schwarzenegger spokesman says ‘ugly cuts’ on the agenda

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not detailed what steps he will propose to close California’s budget deficit when he calls an emergency session of the Legislature next week.

But his press secretary, Aaron McLear, gave a hint on Tuesday: ‘You can expect ugly cuts.’

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has said the state faces a $25.4-billion deficit through June 2012, including about $6 billion in the current budget.

The governor’s finance department is making its own calculations of the current-year shortfall, which the governor will seek to close.

‘We can’t spend the money we don’t have,’ McLear said.

He added that the governor would not be proposing to extend any of the tax hikes that are set to expire in the coming year and that Schwarzenegger’s special-session agenda will be ‘more along the line of cuts than large state government reform.’

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento