Deal Ends Budget Impasse

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California state legislature have ended a nasty budget showdown with a compromise expected to be approved today, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The agreement eliminates extra withholding from workers' paychecks, and bridges a $17 billion budget gap largely  by adding penalties on corporations that underpay quarterly taxes and reducing reserve funds.The deal ended an 80-day stand-off in which Schwarzenegger threatened to veto the budget—and lawmakers threatened to override his veto. 
(More California stories.)