Sacramento lawmakers have left the Capitol for the holiday weekend without a budget agreement.
The optimism that had characterized negotiations all week all but dissipated today over the issue of how local governments are financed.
In May, local officials agreed to accept $2.6 billion in cuts over the next two years. This, in exchange for the governor´s support for a constitutional amendment that would permanently protect cities, counties and special districts from future state raids on their treasuries.
A revised plan, drawn mostly by Assembly Democrats, gives the state broad new powers to allocate money to cities and counties. This is the ninth time in eleven years that the state has begun the fiscal year without a budget.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 4:44 pm