Sworn in, ready to go

SACRAMENTO -- "The ceremonial part is over," Assemblywoman Noreen Evans told a caller Monday afternoon in her sixth-floor Capitol office. "The real fun is just beginning."

By fun, Evans, a Democrat from Santa Rosa, humorously meant coping with California's $11.2 billion budget deficit and the Republican lawmakers who have thwarted a solution by refusing to vote for new taxes.

But as the newly constituted Assembly and Senate were sworn into office Monday, the math involved in securing two-thirds approval of a budget had shifted, and Evans, as the new chairwoman of the Assembly Budget Committee, had some room for optimism.

There are now 51 Democrats in the 80-member Assembly, meaning that if they stand united on a budget they need just three Republican "ayes" to pass a budget. Seven GOP votes were needed last month when a special session called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to act.

Democrats in the 40-member Senate still need two GOP budget votes.

"It's a big difference," Evans said at one of the many post-swearing-in receptions in downtown Sacramento. The new Republicans are "an unknown," she said. "We don't know what their ideology is."

During her acceptance speech as returning Assembly speaker, Democrat Karen Bass of Los Angeles called on her colleagues to set aside ideology for the sake of compromise.

"These are not ordinary times," Bass said. "You all have it in you to do what needs to be done."

Evans, a former Santa Rosa City Council member, sat during the 50-minute ceremony at her front-row desk in the ornate Assembly chamber with her daughter, Erin Deppe of Sacramento, at her side.

"I'm very proud of her," Deppe said of her mother, an attorney elected in November to her third and final term in the Assembly. But heading the budget committee, which has a staff second in size only to Bass' office, puzzled Deppe.

"I can't believe she wants the job," Deppe said.

Monday's atmosphere was more like a reunion than a legislative session, with hand-shaking, hugging and some babies in arms prior to the ceremony, which many members spent with spouses and children on hand.

"Here we go again, huh," Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Long Beach, said.

Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines, R-Clovis, praised Bass as "a very good friend" and "a special person," leading to her re-election as speaker by a unanimous voice vote.

"We will deliver to California what it deserves," said Villines, who has championed the Republicans' hard line against taxes.

Schwarzenegger, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor and Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly asserted that a blend of new tax revenues and budget cuts is needed to close the budget shortfall, which could grow to $28 million over the next 19 months if fixes aren't made soon.

Evans returned to her office Monday to learn that Schwarzenegger had declared a fiscal emergency and called a special 45-day legislative session, starting immediately, to deal with the budget. The deadline for action is Jan. 14.

"That gives us a lot less breathing room than I thought," Evans said.

Today, Evans will meet with Bass and the Assembly budget staff to go over the governor's latest proposal -- roughly $8 billion in budget cuts and $8 billion in taxes -- and determine a response.

"We're essentially back to where we were (last month)," Evans said.

Also sworn in Monday were Assemblymen Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, who represents the 6th District covering Marin and part of Sonoma County, and Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, the 1st District representative covering the North Coast from Sonoma County to the Oregon border.

Sworn in to the Senate were Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, whose 3rd District includes Marin and part of Sonoma County, and Pat Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, whose 2nd District includes Napa County, much of Sonoma County and the North Coast.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.