Friendly reminder: Republican legislators continue to hold the state's budget hostage by refusing to negotiate on whether to close this year's deficit with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Meanwhile, a federal receiver is moving ahead with his threat to force the state to spend an extra $2.5 billion on the state's deplorable penitentiary system.

At some point they must deal with the facts, our state cannot simply cut spending and still provide the same level of public services the people expect their government to deliver in the form of education, health and welfare. It must be paid for somehow and Democrats don't appear to be opposed to decreasing spending. Speaker Karen Bass and other Democratic legislators are beginning to hold public townhall meetings to shine light on the fact that Republican posturing over potential tax increases is holding up Sacramento from doing its job.

Here's how the San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle puts the current budget situation:

• The budget has been overdue since the fiscal year began July 1. The immediate problem for lawmakers is another big hole in the general fund budget.
  
  Taxes are expected to yield $94.5 billion, most of that - $53.7 billion - from the income tax. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan would spend $102 billion.
  
  Schwarzenegger would close the hole with $5 billion in lottery-backed bonds and by counting $2 billion in tax revenue from the first quarter of next fiscal year.
  
  The Democratic plan spends $106 billion, providing $2.3 billion more for schools and $1.5 billion more for health and welfare programs. It is based on a $9.7 billion tax package, including a $5.6 billion tax increase for upper-income earners. Democrats believe these modest increases will help to ensure that the budget is fair; that it is not unfairly balanced on the backs of our children, the elderly, disabled and our women and men in uniform.
  
  [Mike]Villines said Republicans, who have signed a no-new-tax pledge [in April of 2007], understand that Democratic acceptance of a spending limit would require a "significant compromise on our side," such as ending some tax credits and exemptions.

Speaker Bass will be joined by Long Beach Assemblyman Warren Furutani tonight at an emergency townhall on California's budget crisis to discuss the need for Republicans to act in good faith to pass the budget for the good of all Californians tonight at California State University Dominguez Hills (Carson, CA).