Controller John Chiang

By Brian Leubitz
Calitics

Let's set aside one notion at the front. Prop 25, the majority vote measure, probably could have won without the legislative pay issue. I suppose reasonable minds could differ on that one, but given the way the rest of the night went in California, and the weakness of the opposing campaign, it probably passes with or without punishing the legislature.  But, that is speculation at this point, and those who drafted it faced some very serious questions that the legislative pay provision addressed. So, Prop 25 carried a provision that punishes the legislature for not passing a budget on time.

Of course, the word "balanced" has been read in there by John Chiang.  From the perspective of the long-term power of the Controller's office, it is something of a boon.  From the perspective of a legislature able to follow their conscience during some rough times, perhaps not so great. 

By Marty D. Omoto
Director/Organizer
California Disability Community Action Network

State Controller John Chiang, warned the Governor and lawmakers on Friday (October 9) to prepare for “more difficult decisions ahead” as he issued his monthly report that shows state revenues dropping more sharply than what the revised 2009-2010 State Budget projected.  

His monthly report covers California’s cash balance, receipts and money paid out (spent in September and shows that for the first three months of the State budget year (which began July 1, 2009), total money coming into the State General Fund was nearly $1.1 billion below what was estimated in the revised 2009-2010 State Budget passed and enacted in late July.  

by David M. Greenwald
Editor
California Progress Report

An Op-Ed by the San Jose Mercury news on Wednesday blasted Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger for needlessly pushing the state over the edge. Today, Controller John Chiang will begin handing out IOUs to state workers and to vendors of the state.

As Controller John Chiang said last week:

“We start a fiscal year with a massively unbalanced spending plan and a cash shortfall not seen since the Great Depression. The State’s $2.8 billion cash shortage in July grows to $6.5 billion in September, and after that we see a double-digit freefall. Unfortunately, the State’s inability to balance its checkbook will now mean short-changing taxpayers, local governments and small businesses.”

By Marty D. Omoto
Director/Organizer
California Disability Community Action Network

State Senate Republicans, saying they wanted a complete and not a partial budget solution, refused to support 3 bills that would have provided over $3 billion in cash for the State Controller to pay vendors and other reimbursements instead of IOUs – a situation he warned wlll happen as early as July 2 unless a budget plan was in place. The State Senate adjourned just after midnight and will reconvene Wednesday morning at 10:00 AM.

Dan Aiello
California Progress Report

For those Californians who didn’t hear or take seriously governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s warning that the golden state’s “Day of reckoning is here,” state controller John Chiang today released his monthly report detailing California’s cash balance. The news from Chiang is not good.

For the month of May, the State’s revenue was even worse than Schwarzenegger had planned, $827 million below the latest projections found in the Governor’s May Budget Revision.