California OKs Long-Delayed Budget

Remaining state public-works projects to be stopped

(NEWSER) - California’s legislature couldn’t agree on a budget by the time it adjourned last night, so even as legislators trudge back to negotiate this morning, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will begin proceedings to lay off 20,000 government workers and halt the 275 state-funded public works projects still in action, the Los Angeles Times reports. The governor had delayed the layoffs in hopes that lawmakers could settle on a budget, but Democrats couldn’t get the two-thirds majority needed to pass a plan. More»

State controller refuses to cut smaller checks

(NEWSER) - Arnold Schwarzenegger upped the ante in his budget standoff with the state legislature yesterday, ordering almost all state workers' pay cut to the federal minimum wage—$7.25 per hour—effective immediately. The State Controller, Democrat John Chiang, says he won’t obey that order, the LA Times reports, but the Department of Personnel Administration says he doesn’t have a choice. The last time Chiang refused to cut worker benefits, in 2008, Schwarzenegger took him to court and won. More»

(NEWSER) - Just how bad has California’s budget crisis gotten? So bad that it’s holding what it’s calling the “Great California Garage Sale” this weekend, hoping to unload piles of junk and wasteful property that the state’s accrued over the years. Hundreds of items will be available, from BlackBerrys to desks to cars and CHiPs motorcycles. Arnold Schwarzenegger has even signed some of the items to drum up interest. More»

(NEWSER) - The leader of California's Senate says he'll take Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to court for using line-item vetoes to slash another $500 million from the budget deal he was sent last week, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Democrat Darrell Steinberg accuses Schwarzenegger of overstepping his authority by making the cuts. "We elected a governor, not an emperor," Steinberg says, warning that the balance of power in the state is being upset. More»

(NEWSER) - A plan to slash the number of inmates by 27,000 could sink California's long-delayed budget deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Angry Republican state lawmakers threatened to back out of the agreement after learning of the plan, which would give prison officials authority to let any inmate over 60 years old or with less than a year left on their sentences finish their time on home detention to save money. More»