Sen. Correa Really Doesn't Want To Vote For The Budget

It's clear that he doesn't. He probably thinks it will cost him his re-election in 2010. That may or may not be, but certainly it's his point of view. There is no other reason why the vote was rescheduled. And it's certainly why Dem leaders are offering him incentives:

In what some might call an amazing coincidence, a measure to give Orange County an extra slice of the state budget pie was included in Saturday's deficit-closing proposals, the fate of which rested heavily on the vote of an Orange County state senator.

The senator, Lou Correa of La Habra, was the only Democratic member of the upper house reported to be "noncommittal" on whether to support a $40 billion package of tax hikes, spending cuts and loans designed to close the gap in California's budget.

Correa's vote is vital because Senate Republican leader Dave Cogdill of Modesto said that for any Republicans to cast votes for the package - and three are needed to give it the 27-vote two-thirds majority it needs - all Democrats will have to vote aye. "I just don't think it gets out if he (Correa) doesn't go up on it," Cogdill said earlier this week.

Capitol sources, who asked not to be named while commenting on private negotiations, said language had been inserted in the massive 33-bill package that would give Orange County $35 million in additional property tax revenues in the coming fiscal year; $35 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year, and up to $50 million annually after that.

Further delays mean he's further away from saying yes to the whole thing. And of course, this is another perverse outcome of the Yacht Party's stranglehold on the budget process - Correa's marginal seat shouldn't really hold the key to whether or not this passes.