Calif. budget talks stall amid reform proposals.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Attempts to close California's widening budget deficit appeared to veer off course Monday after one of the key Democratic leaders sat out a top-level meeting amid frustration over the direction of the talks. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, refused to participate in morning negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Assembly and Senate. She told reporters she might skip another so-called Big 5 meeting later Monday, but that meeting never materialized...Link