State Senate GOP leader calls for lame-duck session on budget

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State Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga said a new report pegging California’s budget deficit over the next year and a half at $25.4 billion means there is no time to waste -- and he fired off a letter to lame-duck Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asking him to call the Legislature back for an emergency session.

‘Delaying action only makes the problem more difficult to solve,’ Dutton wrote.

The governor has not made any decisions regarding such an emergency declaration, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said.

‘We are talking to the legislative leaders about what course of action to take,’ he said.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento