Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, who played a key role in placing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deficit bond on the March ballot, was tapped this week to tackle the state's biggest challenge of all - its multibillion-dollar budget crisis.

The Sacramento Democrat was chosen to serve as new Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's point man in crafting solutions to a deficit that could exceed $14 billion next year.

As head of the Assembly's Budget Committee, Steinberg vows to "change the budget conversation" away from mudslinging that portrays Democrats as wasteful tax-and-spenders and Republicans as heartless advocates of cutting health and social services.

"In California, it's been overly ideological and overly rhetorical," Steinberg said of past budget negotiations. "We haven't addressed the fundamental question: What do we value in public services and how are we going to pay for it?"

Núñez described the 44-year-old Sacramentan as an able negotiator, experienced in budget matters, and someone who understands that "in order to move California forward, we don't always get what we want."

Unlike most other Assembly Democrats, Steinberg is not running for re-election and can devote much of his time and attention to the budget crisis. He is termed out after this year.

Steinberg said the Assembly will hold public hearings that will try to put a price tag on savings achievable by targeting waste, fraud and abuse or by increasing efficiency.

The hearings also will examine the effects of potential budget cuts on public services. Discussions will be conducted in a bipartisan manner, with all sides heard, he said.

"We're going to have our disagreements, but we'll approach it with a spirit of respect and working to find solutions," he said.

Republican lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see approach, complimenting Steinberg for his cooperative approach but noting that he's one of the Assembly's most liberal members and a solid proponent of tax increases to help bridge the budget gap.

"Darrell at least will talk to you, but he's a committed leftie," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta. "You can have a conversation with him, but it usually won't change his mind."

Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, said he respects Steinberg - "he's bright, experienced, capable and his word is good" - but that the proposed budget hearings sound like a public relations campaign to beat the drum for tax increases.

"During Darrell's term in the Legislature, he has not had to compromise with Republicans to get things done," Campbell said. "This will be the first test not only for Darrell but for a lot of (Democratic) legislators."

Steinberg was selected budget chairman over a more moderate Democrat, Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla of Pittsburg.

An attorney and mediator by profession, Steinberg helped broker an agreement last December after Democratic legislators had rejected Schwarzenegger's plans for a $15 billion bond measure and spending controls. The compromises, Propositions 57 and 58, are on the March 2 ballot.

"He tends to have philosophical views, but he tends to drive toward consensus," said Fred Silva, a senior adviser for the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit research group.

Last month, Steinberg helped strike a deal between Republicans and Democrats that led to Assembly passage of a bill to place sex-offender information on the Internet.

Even if voters pass Proposition 56 in March, allowing state budgets to be passed by a 55 percent margin of each legislative house - theoretically allowing Democrats to cast the necessary votes - Steinberg knows that GOP views must be considered to avoid a veto by Schwarzenegger.

Steinberg, besides heading the 31-member Budget Committee, will help oversee a seven-member fiscal team on behalf of the Assembly Democratic Caucus.

Formerly chairman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Steinberg has served in recent years on the budget conference committee, which reconciles differences between budget plans late in the process.

Steinberg said Assembly leaders expect to be major players in budget negotiations this year.

"We intend to be very pro-active," he said.

Last year, the Assembly played a secondary role in budget talks to the Senate, where a breakthrough deal ultimately was struck by President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco and Senate Republican leader Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga.

Promises of bipartisan cooperation by Steinberg and Núñez are welcomed by the GOP, which is outnumbered 48-32 in the Assembly. But evidence of the deep partisan divide on budget issues was reflected by reaction to Núñez's speech upon assuming the speakership this week.

Núñez, without openly advocating tax increases, vowed to "craft solutions that lessen the human toll" and don't place an "unfair burden on those who cannot bear it."

Democrats applauded, but Republicans did not.

In the past, Steinberg has pushed to expand California's safety net for the poor. He currently is leading an initiative drive to tax wealthy Californians to expand the state's community mental health system.

Raising tuition fees would make college unaffordable for thousands of students, he said, and cutting transportation funding would reduce jobs and economic development.

"I have my ideology and my beliefs, and I'm going to fight for my beliefs," he said. "At the same time, my role is to help the (Assembly) deliver a fair and on-time budget."