San Francisco Chronicle (3/13): State may get compromises

[Jack Rabbit]

From the San Francisco Chronicle
Dated Sunday March 13

After all the tough talk, state may get compromises
Dems, GOP show openness to negotiating differences
By Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

Sacramento -- Wealthy business owners are donating big chunks of cash to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reform initiatives. Labor unions announced they would join forces to battle Schwarzenegger at the ballot box. And the governor spent more time last week with the prime minister of Bavaria than he did with legislative leaders.

More than two months after Schwarzenegger laid out an ambitious agenda and warned lawmakers he would go directly to voters if they didn't cooperate with him, Sacramento has begun the shift to campaign mode to settle differences.

But despite the election-season aura, there are also signs that compromise on Schwarzenegger's proposals is possible.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers said in interviews this week that they are willing to cut deals. That sentiment was echoed Friday by an optimistic-sounding Schwarzenegger, who said in a public appearance in Long Beach that he was seeing "positive movement'' toward negotiations.

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