CALIFORNIA: John Chiang's pay blockage upends budget talks

Sacramento Bee ^ | 6/22/11 | Kevin Yamamura

[SmithL]

Controller John Chiang has blocked pay for lawmakers, putting state budget negotiations into uncharted territory and upping the pressure on legislative leaders to strike a deal.

Chiang rejected his own party's spending plan as insufficient to satisfy a voter-approved law requiring timely budgets.

In doing so, the Democratic controller exercised unprecedented authority Tuesday, establishing a new role for his office under propositions 25 and 58 to determine whether a legislative budget is balanced.

"I think it was pretty clear ... that (voters) wanted a balanced budget," Chiang said Tuesday in an interview.

With a $9.6 billion deficit still lingering, lawmakers greeted the decision with everything from anger to nonchalance.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, had one of the most fervent responses, saying in a statement that Chiang "just wants to sit there and beat up on the unpopular kids."

"I now have to explain to my wife and daughter that we won't be able to pay the bills because a politician chose to grandstand at our expense," Gatto said. "California has officially degenerated into a Banana Republic, with one branch of government withholding the pay of another."

Under Chiang's decision, lawmakers are losing a combined $48,603.50 each day – which totaled $340,224 over the course of the last week.

For most lawmakers, it represents about $260 per day in salary and $142 in tax-free travel and living expenses.

Several Republicans took pleasure in noting that legislative Democrats spearheaded last year's fight for Proposition 25, which not only included the pay provision but reduced the budget-vote threshold from two-thirds to a majority.

And the four Senate Republicans targeted by Brown for a budget vote appear to have ample resources to survive a pay drought, according to statements of economic interest they filed for calendar year 2010:

[Randy Larsen]

Balanced budget coming soon!

Paid for our state legislators paychecks!