Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said it was ironic that Republicans were calling for a vote on a budget plan they oppose rather than engaging in negotiations. She said it signified a step backward in the already difficult negotiations.
"I think it's unfortunate that we've now deteriorated to games on the floor," Bass told reporters after the Assembly session. "In the past, the Republicans have objected to us putting up a budget before we knew we had their support."
Passing a budget bill in the Assembly and Senate requires a two-thirds majority vote, meaning some Republican support is needed.
The Republicans' push for a vote on the Democratic spending plan came a day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he will veto all bills sent to him until lawmakers pass a state budget.
California is the only state with a fiscal year beginning July 1 that remains without a spending plan.
Lawmakers failed to meet their constitutionally mandated June 15 deadline to pass a budget, as they do most years, and remain at odds over how to close the deficit. Republicans say any spending plan must include long-term budget reform, including a state spending cap that Democrats oppose.
Democrats have proposed raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to generate $8.2 billion, while the governor has floated a temporary 1 percent sales tax increase.
Bass said Democrats would bring their budget proposal to a floor vote soon but need a few days to examine a proposed constitutional amendment put forward Wednesday by Republicans, who are seeking an amendment to cap state spending.
The Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on Monday.
The delay prompted Villines to suggest that Democrats were stalling to get beyond the Aug. 16 deadline for the Legislature to place measures on the November ballot.
Several policies that are tangled up in the budget negotiations require voter approval. They include any proposal for budget reform and a plan by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to raise money by selling bonds based on the future value of the state lottery.
The deadline, set by the secretary of state's office, is fluid. In years past, the Legislature has been able to add ballot measures after the deadline.
Democrats have complained that Republicans are quick to criticize their budget but have not offered their own plan for balancing revenue and spending. They said that makes it difficult to have meaningful negotiations.
"What we have is a situation where the voters of California have been taken hostage, but we can't get a ransom note," said Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee.
The impasse is wearing on Schwarzenegger, who wants lawmakers to do nothing but focus on budget negotiations.
In addition to his veto threat, he signed an executive order last week eliminating more than 10,000 temporary, part-time and contract positions and cutting pay for thousands of state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour.
The order is being challenged by state Controller John Chiang, who said setting the pay level of state employees during a budget impasse is his decision, not the governor's. Chiang, a Democrat, also said he can't comply because his computer system is so old it would take months to process the minimum wage request.
Officials from the administration and controller's office were scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss the executive order.
Schwarzenegger aides say he will sue if Chiang does not comply.
