The real secret to passing a budget

Here's a good article from this morning's Sacramento Bee, which erroneously mentions Arkansas as a legislature that, like California, requires a two-thirds vote to pass the state budget. Arkansas is a simple Majority State to pass the funding bill, and for most appropriations, we require a 3/4 supermajority vote. California is currently having trouble reaching an agreement on their budget.

I'm attending a seminar this evening titled "Meeting of the minds: how to close a budget deal." This is ironically being moderated by a Californian and should be a great program. Like most other states, our state Constitution requires us to balance the budget each biennium, and deficit spending is not allowed in Arkansas. Prop 58 just passed in 2004 in California requiring them to maintain a balanced budget.