No honeymoon for freshmen as legislators battle budget deficit. (Politics).

IN typical years, December is "get acquainted" month for freshmen legislators in Sacramento. After being sworn in on the first Monday, there are a couple of weeks of orientation. Then everyone goes home for the holidays and comes back in January ready for work.

Not this year. Gov. Gray Davis has called a special session for Dec. 9 to deal with the state's ballooning budget crisis. Legislators have barely one week after being sworn in to come to grips with a 2003-04 budget deficit in excess of $21 billion. They will be called upon to make some of the toughest decisions they'll ever have to make as legislators within weeks of taking office.

"We're going into the belly of the beast," said incoming Assemblyman Ron Calderon, D-Montebello.

Calling the special session didn't catch freshmen legislators totally off guard, since the budget crisis has been brewing for months. And legislators have had some briefings in the nuts and bolts of legislative procedures and the budget situation.

But the magnitude of the crisis has taken them by surprise. At the time of the March primary, when most legislators won their toughest election battles, the 2003-04 budget deficit was pegged at about $6 billion. After the current budget was passed on Labor Day weekend, that rose to $10 billion.

But three weeks ago, legislative analyst Elizabeth Hill warned that the deficit would be $21 billion and two weeks ago, Davis said it would likely be "in excess of $21 billion." Last week, word was circulating Sacramento that the figure might actually be closer to $30 billion.

"We were all told that the budget was going to be the number one issue we would be dealing with, but the numbers coming out now are truly daunting," said Cindy Montanez, D-Mission Hills, who just ended her term as mayor of San Fernando last week. "It's going to be extremely challenging to get 80 members in the Assembly and 40 members in the Senate to agree on priorities for cuts and revenue increases."

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at [phone]. ext. 227, or by email at [e-mail].