The Legislature's top-ranked Democrat declared California lawmakers impossibly deadlocked Tuesday and predicted there would be no budget deal before the new fiscal year starts next week.
Senate President Pro Tem John Burton said Democrats, who failed to win Republican votes for a compromise budget that scrapped all but one proposed tax increase, have buckled as much as they can.

"We've got a real problem here," Burton said. "If I knew how to get out, we'd be out."

GOP leaders called the vote on the plan, which hinges on a half-cent sales tax hike, a futile exercise. They said they stand firmer than ever against using tax increases to help fill a state budget hole expected to reach $38 billion.

"You will test our mettle today, and you will find that it is very strong," said Sen. Jim Battin, R-Palm Desert, just before a strict party-line vote whose outcome came as no surprise to either side. "You will find that Republicans are not in the business of rolling over this year."

Though Democrats hold a majority in both legislative chambers, four GOP votes are needed in the Assembly and two in the Senate to achieve the two-thirds margin required to send a budget to the governor.

The vote came as pressure mounted with six days left until the July 1 beginning of the new fiscal year, signaling that lawmakers are far from finding a solution for California's worst-ever budget crisis.

Assembly Democrats have dispersed throughout the state, attempting to win support from local leaders for their budget plans. Senate leaders planned to put their ill-fated compromise plan up for another vote today but expected it to fail once again.

Gov. Gray Davis for the first time acknowledged the possibility of a late budget when he predicted that both houses would send him a deal by the first day of the scheduled legislative summer recess, July 18.

The Democratic governor, however, said he plans to continue to try to press leaders to "find a way to get me a budget by July 1."

"I'm doing everything I can to encourage, cajole, persuade, nudge, guilt-trip and all the things you do to try and make things happen in this building," Davis said. "But this is like a tennis game, I serve it in their court, they gotta serve it back in my court."

Davis said the Senate Democrats' plan was "credible" and "made tough decisions," and he said he is willing to entertain variations in his budget plan.

Senate Democrats' revamped budget plan relied on $11 billion in budget cuts and $10.7 billion in deficit financing to be repaid with a half-penny sales tax increase. The plan rejected some $1.4 billion in cuts proposed by Davis, including a slew of health-care cuts that Democratic lawmakers dislike, while also scrapping the governor's plans to raise taxes on wealthy workers and cigarettes.

Instead, the new Democratic plan called for some new cuts -- such as eliminating the state Arts Council and Office of Criminal Justice Planning -- and relied on a new infusion of federal dollars. The new blueprint also revived a plan to sell about $1.5 billion in bonds to be repaid in future years with settlement money from tobacco firms.

"This budget goes as far as Democrats are willing to go in cuts," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata.

Republican senators said they reject tax increases because they blame the state's budget woes on reckless spending by the Democratic governor and Legislature.

"Pass this budget today, and the financial condition of California will be worse tomorrow," said Sen. Bruce McPherson, R-Santa Cruz.

Democrats shot back that Republicans voted for many of the efforts that increased spending in California, such as large increases in school spending and class-size reduction programs, grants for college students, boosted prison staff and billions of dollars in tax cuts when fiscal times were good.

They also pointed out recession-era tax increases signed into law by former Republican Govs. Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan.

"When you look at how we got here, it was on a bipartisan basis," Chesbro said.

"We got into this together. The only way out of this is together."