Arg arg arg!!!
SACRAMENTO - Monday was like most days in the state Capitol. Lawmakers held hearings. They debated bills. They had press conferences to tout their priorities.
But what they didn't do mattered most.
With more than five hours to spare before the midnight deadline for the state to enact a spending plan, the state's legislators simply adjourned and went home.
``We want to apologize for not being able to do our job,'' a frustrated Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, told his colleagues early Monday evening.
Within minutes, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, also sent senators home.
(more)
A few more excerpts:
"While budget stalemates are not new in Sacramento -- the deadline has been missed 17 times in the past 25 years -- the day's inaction was still stunning given the record $38.2 billion deficit and the possibility that the state could be forced to stop paying for such critical programs as community colleges and child care for poor families."
"A few more exec State officials predict that within the month payments to community colleges and businesses that supply the state with everything from paper clips to water to fight fires are expected to be turned off. And they say California's credit rating -- already the worst in the nation -- could be further downgraded, raising the cost of borrowing."
"Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, said he expects Davis foes to hold out on the budget. 'I do not believe we will see a budget until the recall has qualified for the ballot, because they are just watching this guy sink,' Perata said."
"Just three years ago, with much ceremony, Davis signed the budget before the deadline, marking the first time since 1986 that it was on time two years in a row.
"But California has experienced a fiscal shipwreck since then. Among the factors are a 32 percent jump in spending under Davis, the end of the technology boom and billions in tax breaks handed out by lawmakers when the state was flush."
This. Is. Infuriating!!!!!
But what they didn't do mattered most.
With more than five hours to spare before the midnight deadline for the state to enact a spending plan, the state's legislators simply adjourned and went home.
``We want to apologize for not being able to do our job,'' a frustrated Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, told his colleagues early Monday evening.
Within minutes, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, also sent senators home.
(more)
A few more excerpts:
"While budget stalemates are not new in Sacramento -- the deadline has been missed 17 times in the past 25 years -- the day's inaction was still stunning given the record $38.2 billion deficit and the possibility that the state could be forced to stop paying for such critical programs as community colleges and child care for poor families."
"A few more exec State officials predict that within the month payments to community colleges and businesses that supply the state with everything from paper clips to water to fight fires are expected to be turned off. And they say California's credit rating -- already the worst in the nation -- could be further downgraded, raising the cost of borrowing."
"Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, said he expects Davis foes to hold out on the budget. 'I do not believe we will see a budget until the recall has qualified for the ballot, because they are just watching this guy sink,' Perata said."
"Just three years ago, with much ceremony, Davis signed the budget before the deadline, marking the first time since 1986 that it was on time two years in a row.
"But California has experienced a fiscal shipwreck since then. Among the factors are a 32 percent jump in spending under Davis, the end of the technology boom and billions in tax breaks handed out by lawmakers when the state was flush."
This. Is. Infuriating!!!!!