The governor threatens legislators with no food or potty breaks and they quickly get a budget agreement

The fact the budget stalemate was hurting thousands of Californians wasn't enough motivativation for legislative leaders to get an acceptable agreement. But just hours after Gov. Schwarzenegger threatened to lock the four leaders and himself in a room without food or bathroom breaks, they came out with a deal that apparently satisfies everyone. Here's The Bee's E. J. Schultz's story on the agreement.

The latest deal is supposed to be voted on this afternoon by the Assembly and Senate. We are already 81 days into the fiscal year without a budget. That's the longest the state has gone without a budget. We're talking a budget that's huge -- $104 billion in the general fund. It touches every Californian in some way.

The deal announced late Thursday afternoon dumps one of the dumbest ideas to come out of Sacramento in a long time. That's the "accelerated withholding" from taxpayers. The state would take more money from your paycheck, but you would get it back when you file your state income tax returns next year. It would have been the worst of all worlds. It's a tax increase that's not a tax increase and it would not solve the problem because the state would pay the money back next year.

There are still some gimmicks in this version of the budget. Schultz reports that quarterly taxpayers will have to pay more in the first part of the calendar year, and that should get the state $1.3 billion for the fiscal year that started July 1. Millionaires also will have to pay more of their taxes earlier.

The governor apparently got what he wanted -- a better "rainy-day" fund. It would "limit transfers from the fund to only when revenues fall below projected spending," according to The Bee's story.

There undoubtedly are more gimmicks in this budget and many of them should surface today after everyone takes a closer look at the agreement.