UNANIMOUS CONSENT

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger scheduled a rare press conference for today — June 15, the never-met constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass a budget — the anticipation in the Capitol was that it would be a bash-the-Legislature affair. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, the Legislature's leading Democrat, scheduled an afternoon news conference to respond to the anticipated criticism.

Instead, Schwarzenegger said negotiations with lawmakers are going well and that he is pleased with the progress being made. He pronounced Burton a "terrific" person and a "tough negotiator."

As reporters were leaving Schwarzenegger's news conference, an aide to Burton passed out a notice saying that Burton's event had been cancelled because Burton is in agreement that he is "a tough negotiator and terrific."

Now, if they could just agree so easily on whether in-home support workers who help disabled Californians with daily living should take a pay cut, or whether the blind, aged and disabled should lose their anticipated cost-of-living increase in their benefits...