Assembly Democrats have moved a bare bones budget bill ahead to initiate hearings with the Senate on solving California´s fiscal crisis. The procedural move is a major step toward building a budget agreement before the June 15th deadline.

But the two parties remain far apart. The Republican minority has proposed deep cuts and borrowing to balance the books. Democrats who control both houses want to add higher taxes to the mix.

Governor Davis has proposed a $100 billion spending plan that includes about $18 billion in cuts and savings and $8 billion in new taxes. Davis says he also wants to borrow $11 billion and repay the debt with money raised by a new half-cent sales tax.