State Senate GOP leader Dave Cogdill said Tuesday that Gov. Schwarzenegger's recent casino deal with the North Fork Indian tribe is "premature."

"I think we need to figure out first what the federal government's going to do," Cogdill said in an interview with the Fresno Bee/Sacramento Bee Capitol bureau. The people of California "certainly always opposed off-reservation gaming,” said the Modesto Republican, whose district includes the planned casino site.

Schwarzenegger signed the compact with the tribe last week, but he said he would not ask the Legislature to take it up until the federal government puts the land in trust, a process that could take months, if it happens at all. The targeted site is about 35 miles from the tribe's traditional home in the Sierra foothills.

Cogdill touched on a variety of subjects during his 45-minute visit with the bureau.

On the state budget, he vowed not to raise taxes. He estimated the state's deficit for 2008-09 at $16 billion, including a $2.5 billion reserve. That's a bit lower than the $20 billion figure the governor has been throwing around. Cogdill advocated for filling the gap with spending cuts and taking surplus money from several state accounts, such as the "First Five" program, a 1998 voter-approved tax on cigarettes to fund child health and education programs.

On negotiations on a state bond to boost the state's water supply: "I'm confident we will get there. Whether it's this year or not is the question." Talks have been stalled over the GOP demand that the bond package include money for dams.

On a GOP proposal to give truckers more time to retrofit diesel engines to comply with clean-air rules: "I think we need to have realistic goals ... and give these businesses an opportunity to get there."

On the Democratic-led attempt to recall Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Atwater: "The people of the Central Valley of this state in the more rural areas certainly resent it when politicians from the more populated, powerful areas of the state come in and try to play in our politics.”

Listen to that exchange here, as well as his take on the governor's recent "small town" comments and Cogdill's full view on the North Fork deal.