Hoping to find ways to avoid cuts in state services that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed, the Assembly Budget Committee kicked off a series of oversight hearings Thursday but made little progress paring the programs aiding the developmentally disabled.

At the end of the three-hour hearing, committee members did not have a list of specific ways to save money, nor did they discuss any new approaches to finding efficiencies.

But members from both parties said they were hopeful nonetheless that they would end up with legislation that will help close the state's $15 billion deficit before the GOP governor presents a revised budget proposal in May.

"Every dollar saved is a dollar that doesn't have to be cut," said Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, chairman of the Budget Committee. "I'm not going to tell you we'll find $1 billion in efficiencies, but it is a start."

Donna Arduin, director of the Schwarzenegger administration's Department of Finance, praised the committee's work in a brief appearance at the hearing.

"I appreciate that rather than waiting for us to come up with a proposal ... you're willing to get in on the front end with us," she said.

Despite measures the Legislature has taken in recent years to control costs, spending on centers that deliver services to the developmentally disabled has almost doubled in the past five years - from $1.4 billion to $2.6 billion.

The number of people with developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism and mental retardation who receive services has grown by more than 5 percent a year, far outpacing the overall annual population growth rate of 1.7 percent.

The reasons for the increasing numbers of disabled people in need of state services are still unclear, officials for the Department of Developmental Services told the committee Thursday.

Budget Committee members looked at options ranging from setting up strict standards for what costs the state will cover to setting up a plan for parents to pay a share of the costs of their children's services. Both of those plans are already in the works.

The idea that drew the most enthusiasm was trying to get more money from the federal government. Some analysts have estimated that the state could take in an additional $100 million annually if it restructured some of its programs for the disabled to meet federal guidelines.

Officials said the state could get more federal money in some cases simply by making technical changes in a program that would not limit participation or significantly reduce services. Steinberg said lawmakers might be willing to consider spending more in the short term to bring California into compliance with federal requirements that would net the state more money in the long term.

And he expressed the hope that Schwarzenegger would have more success than previous governors in getting federal aid.

"A lot of it is political, but it is a new day, a new century, and a new governor," Steinberg said.

Assembly Budget Committee members will reconvene next week for a review of child care services and the prison system. In following weeks, they'll examine Medi-Cal fraud, state purchasing practices and tax shelters.

Thursday, they directed state officials to come back to them next month with more specific figures for how much the Department of Developmental Services could save.

"Many of the concerns we've had are already being worked on," said Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico. "Unfortunately, this is a system that has had very little accountability."