Sacramento Area Local News

SACRAMENTO (CBS13/AP) ― California's Big 5 are headed back to the negotiating table trying to hammer out a fix to the state's $26B deficit, including Assembly Speaker Karen Bass who walked away in protest earlier this week.

Speaker Bass' office says the Big 5 will meet sometime this afternoon. Negotiations aimed at closing the shortfall have been stalled since Speaker Bass, a Los Angeles Democrat, walked away from the talks on Monday.

Meantime, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi and other major banks won't honor California's IOUs after today despite pleas from Washington. That means fewer options for thousands of vendors who do billions of dollars in business with state government.

Some of those businesses may find it difficult to survive or hold onto their employees if they can't find a way to quickly redeem IOUs quickly.

And Most state offices are closed today, the first of  three 'Furlough Fridays' this month aimed at saving California some money.

The shutdowns are part of Gov. Schwarzenegger's order to furlough state employees, effectively reducing their pay about 14 percent. The closures are intended to aid the state as it wrestles with a steep decline in tax revenue.

But the move will take a toll on convenience.

Those who want to buy state licenses, get help with payroll taxes or ask for assistance filing disability claims will have to come back another day.

Among the closures Friday will be 169 Department of Motor Vehicle offices.

"You're probably going to have that little percentage of the public that don't watch the news and don't know what's going on," said DMV spokeswoman Jan Mendoza. "We're telling people we are going to be shortened down to four days a week, so make an appointment online and make your life easier."

The state Department of Personnel Administration decided it was easier to post a list on its Web site of the few services that will be available.

Prisons, hospitals, the California Highway Patrol and state firefighters will continue to operate around the clock, and people can still go to state parks and wildlife areas.

In addition, more then half the Employment Development Department's 9,000 employees will be working Friday to help unemployed people file for jobless benefits by telephone and online. About 200 one-stop career centers will stay open to help with job searches and training.

"Those who need unemployment insurance benefits shouldn't see much of an impact," department spokeswoman Loree Levy said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed twice-monthly "furlough Fridays" in February for the first time in California history. But to keep most state offices operating five days a week, he later shifted to floating furloughs that employees could take anytime.

With the state now issuing IOUs and no budget agreement in sight, the Republican governor used his emergency powers to impose a third monthly furlough day starting this month to save an additional $425 million this year.

He also is proposing to cut state workers' pay another 5 percent. If lawmakers continue to balk, that could turn into a fourth monthly furlough day.

"I think it's a scare tactic, and I think it's disrespectful to hardworking public servants," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat whose Sacramento district is particularly hurt by the furloughs.

"If the governor's idea is to improve the economy here in California, taking 19 percent of peoples' purchasing power away from them does just the opposite," he said.

Jim Zamora, spokesman for the largest state employees union, said it makes no sense to close state offices on Fridays when government was able to function for five months using floating furloughs.

"The governor is punishing California residents to make a political point," said Zamora, who represents Service Employees International Union Local 1000.

Trying to give furloughed employees a break, the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill barring discrimination lawsuits against businesses that offer discounts to public or private employees who are laid off or furloughed.

Attorney and retailers associations lined up in support of the bill after a Southern California lawyer threatened to sue businesses that singled out displaced workers for special treatment.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)