Free Republic

Gov: State's deficit has grown to $26.3 billion Matthew Yi, Richard Procter,Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Wednesday, July 1, 2009 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that the state's deficit has grown by $2 billion - to $26.3 billion due to the Legislature's failure to pass a comprehensive solution to solve the state's shortfall. The Republican governor also declared a fiscal emergency, citing the Legislature's inability to pass a plan by last night's midnight deadline. The fiscal emergency means that under Proposition 58, lawmakers will have 45 days to adopt a plan to close the deficit. If they fail to meet...

SACRAMENTO — California's budget deficit will hit $41.8 billion over the next 18 months, potentially forcing the state to issue IOUs for everything from its electricity bills to food providers if lawmakers don't solve the problem soon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration said Thursday. The shortfall is far worse than already abysmal estimates. A previous projection by the Legislature's nonpartisan analyst had pegged the gap at $28 billion through June 2010.

SACRAMENTO — A frustrated Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned Wednesday that California is headed toward "financial Armageddon" if legislators continue their standoff over how to solve the state's ballooning budget deficit. With the recession sending state tax receipts plummeting, Schwarzenegger announced that the state faces a budget shortfall of $14.8 billion in the current fiscal year, up from an earlier estimate of $11.2 billion. Looking ahead to mid-2010, the gap could grow to as much as $40 billion if nothing is done to cut spending or generate new revenue, administration officials said Wednesday. The entire general fund budget this year is...

After Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, his re-election campaign quickly dispatched an e-mail to reporters, quoting his claim to have sharply reduced spending and brought the budget much closer to balance. Characterizing his $222 billion infrastructure improvement plan as "investing in the future" but "not spending," Schwarzenegger added, "Spending we have reduced. Remember what I said. We have cut down the structural deficit by 75 percent. It was expected to be $16.5 billion. We're now at $4.7 billion. That is great progress ... no matter what anyone says." Schwarzenegger thus exposed to a national audience a...

SACRAMENTO – If voters reject Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15 billion fiscal-recovery bond measure in March, his administration said yesterday, a backup bond plan would be smaller than originally thought and would leave a larger budget gap. The governor's top budget aide, Donna Arduin, notified legislators yesterday that the amount of the backup bond, if it survives a court challenge, would drop from $10.7 billion to $8.6 billion. Arduin said the amount of the bond is determined by the deficit at the end of the fiscal year last June, and the deficit has recently been recalculated to be about $2 billion...