More than a month after the July 1 deadline passed for California lawmakers to adopt a state budget, the process remains at a stalemate with legislators on both sides at an impasse over how to close the $19.1 billion deficit. The legislative session ended last week without the passage of a budget.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has implemented furloughs at state offices such as the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Public Health, translating into unpaid days off for approximately 150,000 state workers. But the budget impasse threatens to impact additional services at the local level the longer members of the State Assembly and State Senate take to formulate a budget. Assembly Member Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) said he believes the passage could come within the next couple of weeks, but said Democrats and Republicans at this time are still divided.

Feuer said disagreements over spending for education and jobs, and funding for programs for senior citizens, the disabled and low-income individuals, are at the heart of the problem. The Democrats’ proposal calls for a combination of cuts and tax increases, while the Republican proposal seeks to solve the crisis by cutting spending, shifting revenues from existing programs and convincing the federal government to provide more funding. Feuer said Democratic lawmakers were not willing to accept the deep cuts proposed by Republicans, and added that he is hoping to preserve funding that is essential to the well-being of residents.

“California needs to have a budget now, and we’ve needed it for weeks, but there is a major disagreement between Republicans and Democrats on the priority the budget should have on education,” Feuer said. “Our proposal, the Democrats proposal, has $5 billion more for education funding than the Republican proposal. We are absolutely committed to funding public education to the fullest extent possible. It is not an abstract issue for me. That $5 billion represents an enormous amount of money for each student.”

The Democrats’ proposal seeks to raise vehicle licensing fees as one way to close the gap, while the Republicans are supporting much of the cuts that were outlined in Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget released in May. The Republican proposal called for the elimination of the state welfare-to-work program and cuts to subsidized childcare and drug treatment programs, as well as funding for local school districts.

Feuer said the Republican proposal would eliminate approximately 430,000 jobs, which would deeply impact California, which currently has an unemployment rate around 12 percent.

“There are many public jobs at stake, and we are not willing to sacrifice these jobs,” Feuer said. “It’s teachers, firefighters, police officers and things like that.”

Assembly Republican Caucus Leader Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad) issued a statement after the legislature failed to pass a budget last week stating that the only solution is to cut spending.

“It’s long past time for Democrats to join Republicans to finish our most important job. Californians deserve and voters demand that we pass a responsible, balanced, no-tax budget,” Garrick said. “The budget stalemate revolves around two simple questions.  Should taxpayers pay more to fund big government when the economy and state revenues decline? Or, should lawmakers force the bureaucracy to reduce overspending and live within its means?”

There is currently no timetable for lawmakers to resume discussions, but Feuer said they would be meeting over the next couple of weeks to work out differences.

Meanwhile, some local representatives are demanding that the governor take action while the budget impasse drags on. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich called on Schwarzenegger to issue a state of economic emergency. Schwarzenegger declined to issue the emergency, according to his spokesperson Jeff Macedo, who said it was not necessary because the governor believes lawmakers are close to resolving their differences. Schwarzenegger will be leaving Thursday for a trade mission to Asia that lasts through September 16, but Macedo said he will be in daily contact with Republican and Democratic leaders to assist with the budget deliberations if necessary. Macedo added that the governor did not call for an emergency budget session, as was the case last year, because he believes the two sides are very close.

“The governor has been meeting with both sides every day to get this done,” Macedo said.