Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency in California

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | July 1, 2009 at 05:34 pm

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The California Legislature introduced a budget in February but as of deadline time at midnight June 30th, the Democratic House and Senate was unable to resolve a $24.3 Billion budget deficit.

This has prompted Governor Schwarzenegger to declare a fiscal emergency to force lawmakers into a special session. Essentially it means that they must resolve the budget before they can deal with any other State business. They have 45 days to resolve the issue.

Schwarzenegger also signed an Executive Order that mandates state worker to take a third unpaid day off.

There is also a proposal to cut public service workers' salary by 5%

"Though the legislature failed to solve our budget problem yesterday, rest assured that solving the entire deficit remains my first and only priority, and I will not rest until we get it done. I will not be a part of pushing this crisis down the road — the road stops here," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The IOUs aren't in the mail but they are soon likely after California political leaders failed to reach a last-minute deal on fixing a $24.3 billion budget deficit Tuesday night.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday declared a fiscal emergency to force lawmakers into a special session.

"Though the legislature failed to solve our budget problem yesterday, rest assured that solving the entire deficit remains my first and only priority, and I will not rest until we get it done. I will not be a part of pushing this crisis down the road — the road stops here," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

The governor's declaration under Proposition 58 requires lawmakers to adopt a plan to close the deficit within 45 days.