John Chiang, state controller, could now issue "IOU"-style notes by Thursday to the state's vendors, local agencies overseeing health programmes and recipients of state aid - including the elderly, the disabled and college students. It is the first time in 17 years that the state's government will have to utilise such a measure.
It is the first time in 17 years that the state's government will have to utilise such a measure.
NYT.com: California May Be Forced to Issue I.O.U.'s (June 24, 2009)
If the i.o.u.'s are issued as threatened, it would be the first time since 1992 -- when Gov. Pete Wilson paid roughly 100,000 state employees with them -- that the warrants were used to hold over those to whom the state owed money. Before that budget crisis, California last issued the warrants during the Depression. ... Before even broaching the tax increase -- which Republican legislators said they would not accept and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vowed to veto -- Democrats failed to get enough Republican votes in the Assembly or Senate for the first of 20 proposed budget bills, which contained $11 billion in cuts. After the vote, the Senate president, Darrell Steinberg, dismissed lawmakers until Thursday. ... In 1992, Governor Wilson, a Republican, issued the i.o.u.'s to state workers; the workers immediately brought a lawsuit, contending that the state had violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge approved a $558 million settlement, and some workers received additional vacation time.
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Before even broaching the tax increase -- which Republican legislators said they would not accept and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, vowed to veto -- Democrats failed to get enough Republican votes in the Assembly or Senate for the first of 20 proposed budget bills, which contained $11 billion in cuts. After the vote, the Senate president, Darrell Steinberg, dismissed lawmakers until Thursday.
In 1992, Governor Wilson, a Republican, issued the i.o.u.'s to state workers; the workers immediately brought a lawsuit, contending that the state had violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge approved a $558 million settlement, and some workers received additional vacation time.
