California Budget Crisis: 20,000 State Jobs Hang in the Balance
February 17th, 2009Via: CNN:
California lawmakers were told to bring their toothbrushes and prepare for a long day Tuesday, with the goal of passing a budget as the state faces a $42 billion deficit and 20,000 layoff notices were set to go out to state workers Tuesday.
“Bring a toothbrush, bring any necessities you want to bring, because I will not allow anyone to go home to resume their lives … as long as we know … that 20,000 people will be laid off,” Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, told lawmakers late Monday.
Lawmakers had missed a Monday night deadline to reach a budget deal, prompting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s move on the layoff notices, Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear told CNN late Monday.
The Republican governor, who declared a fiscal emergency in December, has butted heads for months with the Democratic majority over alleviating the state’s $11.2 billion revenue shortfall this fiscal year alone. The cuts would save California $750 million for the year. The state’s $42 billion deficit is for the current and next fiscal years.
