"WHILE THE NATIONAL economy shows early signs of recovery, there's no indication in California that the fiscal plights of state and local governments are improving.
If anything, as bad as 2009 was for the state, cities, schools and public universities, 2010 promises to be worse. State legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are running out of gimmicks to balance the books, and local officials have generally made all the cuts they can without severely hurting services.
State Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor paints a grim picture of the year ahead in Sacramento. Lawmakers must resolve a $21 billion budget gap comprised of shortfalls for the current budget year and the upcoming one. After that, the state faces similar deficits in the $20 billion range each fiscal year until 2014-15."
