Labor and Latino groups threw their support Monday to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who planned to offer his own economic plan today to tackle the state budget deficit.

On Monday, the California State Employees Association, representing 140,000 state workers, and the state Legislature's Latino caucus both adopted a strategy of "No on recall, yes on Bustamante,' as did the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.

"Cruz is the most qualified candidate for the job,' said state Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, chairman of the Latino caucus' endorsement committee.

State Sen. Martha Escutia and Assembly members Jenny Oropeza of Long Beach, Marco Firebaugh of South Gate and Rudy Bermudez of Norwalk all Democrats were among the 24 caucus members to urge Californians to vote "No on the recall' and "Yes on Bustamante' in the Oct. 7 specialelection.

Lawmakers said they had little choice but to formally back a replacement for Davis, who is ailing from dismal approval ratings and the momentum of the Republican-backed recall campaign.

"My feeling is that we need to be prepared,' Bermudez said. "If the voters should support the recall, we need to make sure the best and most qualified person is on the list.'

Bermudez said the caucus is working to keep freshman candidates from office in a time of fiscal crisis.

"We don't have the time to educate an actor on the budget and the needs of California,' he said of Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Since the recall election is scheduled for Oct. 7, the caucus had to quickly weigh in, leaders said.

Oropeza's vote was an affirmation of her Aug. 12 decision to oppose the recall and publicly back Bustamante.

"We believe that he is the only reasonable alternative should the recall pass,' the former Long Beach city councilwoman said. "If (the) recall does pass, we feel strongly that Cruz is the individual on the ballot who will represent our interests and the interests of all Californians.'

Hispanics make up about a third of the state's 35 million residents and 14 percent of voters.

The Latino Caucus includes 15 members of the Assembly and nine members of the state Senate.

A third labor group, the California Conference of Carpenters, also announced its support for the Democrat on Monday, adding to the number of traditional Democratic Party constituent groups moving away from an initial strategy of supporting no candidates to replace Davis.

Today, in an appearance in Elk Grove, Bustamante planned to unveil an economic plan to address the $8 billion deficit that lawmakers and Davis rolled over to next year's budget. While Bustamante in the past supported reversing the tripling of the car tax that recently took effect, his new plan will be a modification of that view, according to his political adviser Richie Ross.

The plan, dubbed "Tough Love for California' will feature $7.9 billion in new revenue and $4.5 billion in cuts and savings.

"It's going to be about a very specific plan to get rid of the $8 billion deficit that remains,' Ross said.

A spokeswoman for Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday that voters should consider Bustamante synonymous with Davis and reject both.

Bustamante has "basically been a rubber stamp for Gray Davis,' said spokeswoman Karen Hanretty. "That will all become very apparent to voters in the coming weeks. I think the dissatisfaction with Gray Davis will spill over to Cruz Bustamante.'

A Field Poll released over the weekend found Bustamante in a statistical dead heat with Schwarzenegger. The poll shows Bustamante preferred by 25 percent of likely California voters, compared to Schwarzenegger's 22 percent. Given the poll's margin of error, the two men are in a virtual tie. The poll also found 58 percent of Californians support the recall.

Political observers say Bustamante is in a Catch-22 when it comes to defining his policies he can't go to great lengths to separate himself from Davis because it would be seen as criticism of the governor, while he can't run as a clone of a governor whose popularity is the lowest ever measured for a California statewide office holder.

Bustamante and Davis don't get along well and rarely speak, so his loyalty is more to the party than the current occupant of the governor's office, according to political analysts. The tension increased over the weekend when Bustamante, on a national news show, accused Davis and his supporters of subtly undermining his campaign by intimidating donors.

Next week, the state's largest labor group, the California Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which already opposes the recall, will meet to decide whether to back a candidate in case voters oust Davis.