From LA Times:
The budget standoff is forcing California to cease funding hundreds of health- and child-care providers. Some are hanging by a thread
SACRAMENTO — With no resolution in sight, the longest state budget standoff in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's tenure is alarming hundreds of organizations that provide healthcare and other services throughout Southern California.Child-care providers aren't getting paid. Directors at healthcare clinics, whose survival depends on state Medi-Cal payments, warn that bankruptcy is looming. Officials at facilities that care for the developmentally disabled worry that they will be unable to hang on more than a couple of weeks. The pain is not felt equally.
Hospitals, community colleges and other big institutions may have reserves to fall back on or easy access to bridge loans. But for the hundreds of smaller, community-based providers throughout Southern California that often provide a lifeline for immigrant and low-income populations, the impasse is more than an inconvenience. It's a financial crisis. "The budget is now more than a month overdue," a frustrated Schwarzenegger said in Sacramento on Thursday. "State services are disrupted, and hardworking families are not going to get their paychecks. I think Californians deserve better than that."
The governor's attempt to break the deadlock came up short Wednesday night, after GOP senators rebuffed his offer to use his line-item veto authority to erase hundreds of millions of dollars of spending they find objectionable from the budget. "I don't really know now what it takes to close it, and I hope they know," Schwarzenegger said. Prospects for an agreement any time soon looked bleak Thursday.
Many lawmakers left for their districts after Senate Republicans blocked a spending plan the night before. Their leader, Dick Ackerman, showed no sign of backing down. And the Democrats said they were through negotiating. There is talk of not returning for several weeks, when the Assembly's vacation ends.
Deadline of budget was June 30th.
2 comments:
The deadline in Illinois was May 31 but I bet that California will settle theirs first. ;-)
We shall see which Governors will finish the race. ;-)
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