California’s still looking at a shortfall of around 20 billion dollars – that’s almost a quarter of the state’s general fund. So no one’s expecting good things from the Governor’s updated budget. But Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear is pretty blunt about how bad it’ll be:
“We’re going to see some very terrible cuts proposed. We have a very large problem that really has not been dealt with since January and he’s not going to increase taxes so you’re going to see some very terrible cuts.”
In January, the Governor called for seven billion dollars from the federal government – but only a portion of that is likely to materialize.
Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez says tax increases have to be considered – but Schwarzenegger and fellow Republicans strongly oppose. Since GOP votes – and the Governor’s signature are required to enact a budget, the stage is set for an ugly battle this summer.