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...
