During my 14 years as a legislator in Sacramento, I came to expect two things when the summer months approached: unbearably hot weather and gridlock in the Capitol over the state's chronic budget woes.

With few exceptions, it was the same story every year. Too many programs and spending obligations, but not enough money to go around. Rather than mustering the political will to make the tough choices and confront the problem head-on, the state limped from one year to the next with temporary fixes like issuing bonds, shifting money away from local governments and employing fancy accounting gimmicks.

Thanks to reforms by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, none of these is an option anymore. And now with a sluggish economy and the state facing a deficit nearing $14 billion, the governor and Legislature are forced to have an honest conversation with the voters about how to come to grips with California's systemic budget problems.

For the governor, this is nothing new. His two earlier attempts at budget reform failed but he is determined to succeed this year.

We know that raising taxes is not the solution because it will hurt the economy and make things worse, not better. And we also know that revenues are not the problem. Over time, the state has enjoyed stellar growth in tax receipts, greatly outpacing both population and inflation. The problem is an insatiable spending appetite, fueled and enabled by a broken budget system.

It is an arcane process driven by autopilot spending formulas, leaving little flexibility even when revenues fall short of expectations. In fact, about 90 percent of the state's budget is tied to spending formulas, contracts and/or statutes, requiring spending to increase by specific amounts each year, even if revenues don't rise as quickly. This is why the legislative analyst can project a $4.6 billion increase in revenue and yet an expansion of the deficit.

It is also a highly volatile system that relies heavily on income taxes from the wealthiest Californians, which can result in wide variations in tax revenue from year to year. This boom-and-bust cycle has decimated the state's finances because the Legislature has repeatedly demonstrated an inability to restrain itself in times of economic prosperity.

The 2000-01 budget, which created the current structural deficit, was passed with the support of both Democrats and Republicans, so no party has a monopoly on overspending.

This volatility also hurts schools, the prison system and other state services because when funding levels are in a constant state of limbo, it's impossible to effectively plan and manage. It's also unfair to our most vulnerable citizens when health and social-service programs are constantly threatened.

California needs a disciplined, stable budget system to smooth out state spending while keeping the books balanced. The governor has long been a champion of this, and shortly after taking office in 2003, he introduced a strict constitutional amendment to limit spending growth. The Legislature refused to go along.

But he didn't give up. In 2005, he sponsored Proposition 76, which included a similar spending limit. However, in a hotly contested special election, it was defeated by voters.

The easy route for the governor would be to simply let this fight go and concede to the status quo. But, as promised in the famous movie line, he is back, trying once again to fix California's broken budget process.

It will be an uphill battle, but if anyone can do it, it's this governor. For taxpayers' sake, let's hope the third time's a charm.

— James L. Brulte is former state Senate and Assembly Republican leader.