Pay Me

Maybe this crushing deficit in California is a good thing. Maybe, just maybe--although I highly doubt it--it will force some spending discipline on our state legislature.

But I'm not holding my breath.

What might be fun to watch, though, is the response of the CTA to its teachers' not being paid:

With the state of California delaying payment on its obligations, some school districts may run out of money in the spring to pay salaries and bills...

The state budget deficit has ballooned to about $40 billion for the 18 months from now through July 2010. While legislators wrangle over a fix, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed his solution, beginning with a $6.6 billion cut in the current fiscal year for K-12 and community college districts.

The governor's plan includes deferring until July about $2.8 billion that Sacramento normally would pay school districts in February and March.

State Senate and Assembly leaders are meeting with Schwarzenegger to try to work out a compromise between "no new taxes" Republicans and "no cuts to programs" Democrats.

As for what people can do to help unstick the legislative jam, Simitian, a Democrat, suggested contacting Sacramento. "They need to let Republicans know that they think new revenue has to be part of the solution.''

Cut spending to the bone first, then we'll talk about new taxes.

Hat tip to NewsAlert.