Today in the Sacramento Bee, political reporter Kevin Yamamura wrote an excellent summation of what California is facing in terms of moving forward on the state budget. Here is an excerpt:
The collapse of budget negotiations leaves a temporary vacuum as state leaders decide where to head next.
This much is known: the state needs to solve a remaining $15.4 billion deficit, and lawmakers have exhausted many options in the realm of spending cuts and fund transfers.
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative Democrats have given up on a June tax election. But they have not abandoned their desire to solve most of the remaining deficit with additional tax revenue.
Republicans say they remain opposed to taxes, though they have not provided a complete alternative.
As novel as Brown’s approach has been this year, he faces the risk of heading down the same path his most recent predecessors did. The state could run out of cash as early as July, resulting in another summer of delayed payments to vendors and schools, as well as the risk of IOUs.
Click here to read the entire article.
