California lawmakers return from the Labor Day Weekend Tuesday with just four days left to pass some 300 bills and negotiate deals on major issues from greenhouse gas reductions to road repairs.
The odds appear long for a bipartisan deal to raise billions of dollars a year for highway and road repairs. Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller says her members don’t support the gas tax or vehicle fee increases proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
“We’re now at the stage where, you know, trying to do an enormous lift with almost no time,” Fuller said. “And so while everyone wants to fix problems and wants to fix the roads – because certainly I drive every week to Sacramento – I think we’re not that close.”
Chances are stronger that two bills laying out California’s next round of greenhouse gas reduction mandates will pass. But Brown and legislative leaders will have to convince some of their fellow Democrats to support the measures.
And the fates of many other bills remain unclear – from anti-tobacco measures to medical marijuana regulations to end-of-life legislation.
This story was produced by Capital Public Radio.