*Republicans could win by giving ground to Brown's tax vote

I long for the old days - you know, those predictable state budget battles that had the Democrats saying yes, the Republicans saying no, the controller being forced to issue IOUs, and the tsk tsking about how the California Dream had finally died (again). This time, it's not so simple because the end-game is not about passing the budget - it's about setting in motion a ballot vote this fall. The Republicans keep refusing to go along with Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to have voters consider a series of tax extensions that would prevent the sort of gimmicky budget the Democrats concocted on Wednesday. The question is why? Dan Walters wonders:

Brown still wants the election, or at least says he does, to make good on last year's campaign promise. But his fellow Democrats in the Legislature are leery about having an election anytime soon, and the union leaders whose campaign money Brown needs are downright hostile. Embracing the election would put Republicans in sync with voters, as Field and other recent polls indicate, and drive a wedge between voters and Democrats, as well as a wedge between the governor and the rest of his party. If you're a Republican, what's not to like about that scenario?

Democrats, meanwhile, have everything to lose by agreeing to Brown's ballot vote, especially if it includes Republican proposals for pension rollbacks and the easing of state environmental laws. In these kinds of deals, the tendency is to vote down everything.

Earlier: Brown vetoes state budent

*Update: State Controller John Chiang has yet to determine whether lawmakers can get paid, based on passage of a budget by June 15. Under Proposition 25, their payments must stop on June 16 if they have not sent the governor a budget. But of course they have sent him a budget - it's just that Brown has vetoed it. (Capitol Alert)