"It's just the nature of the business. When you try to reach a consensus and try to get as many supporters on board as you can, it takes time," says Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark).
But California's water problems have been around for decades.
They have only worsened because of a drought that's in its third year.
Farmers have stopped planting, and field workers are out of jobs.
They've been pressuring lawmakers to solve the crisis, or else places like the Central Valley will keep suffering.
"We have some of the highest unemployment rates in the state and in the nation. People are standing in 100-degree weather just for cornflakes and other surplus food to get through the week," says Assemblyman Juan Arambula (I-Fresno).
Lawmakers have also failed so far to cut prison spending enough to balance the budget, and change some sentencing laws to relieve inmate overcrowding.
If overcrowding isn't solved, federal judges could order tens of thousands of prisoners released.
"Both the Governor and the Majority are essentially allowing inertia to take place to allow these prisoners to be released and say, 'hey, look, it wasn't our fault, we tried to do something,'" says Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine).
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wanted those urgent issues addressed too.
He calls this legislative year "slim with action" and has threatened to veto the hundreds of other bills headed his way if his priority bills don't make the midnight deadline.
"It's all thinking about the future. Don't send me Mickey Mouse bills. Send me the big stuff. Then we can talk about the other stuff," the governor says.
It's just these kinds of log jams and the inability to resolve problems quickly that frustrate Californians.
A new poll out Friday by the Public Policy Institute of California shows Gov. Schwarzenegger's approval rating is near his all-time low at 30 percent.
The legislature's approval rating is even lower at 21 percent.
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