LOS ANGELES  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took his first shot at closing California’s impending $20 billion budget gap on Friday, proposing large-scale pay cuts for state workers, the elimination of several social service programs and a plan to press the federal government for more money.

The suggested cuts  which were met with resistance from lawmakers, with whom he must negotiate a final budget  come on the heels of tens of billions of dollars in cuts and tax increases over the last budget cycle.

“I know many of these cuts are painful,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a news conference in Sacramento. “Believe me, these are the hardest decisions a governor has to make. Yet there is simply no conceivable way to avoid more cuts and more pain.”

Much of the state’s money must be spent on mandates required by Washington and state ballot initiatives, and the economy continues to be sluggish. As a result, the governor, short on solutions, took aim at entire programs and wholesale spending areas, rather than seizing on across-the-board trims, the usual method of cutting.