Gubernatorial Indecision
A news report dated June 20 suggests that the governor is having trouble deciding whether or not to sign the budget the legislature sent him June 15 without his agreement.
He could sign it but exercise his line-item veto power to reduce spending. Were he to veto it as occurred last year, the consequence would be uncertain. Last year, the state controller ruled that the legislature had not complied – on technical grounds – with the requirement to pass a budget on June 15 and thus would not be paid for each day without doing so. That step created an incentive for a quick deal. Subsequently, however, the legislative leaders got a court decision indicating that the controller had no such power. If the governor vetoed the entire package and the controller did not act because of the court decision, there might be no budget on July 1. It is widely assumed that the controller would not act due to the court decision. But that’s not so clear. Indeed, nothing is clear except that the governor has not decided what to do as of this writing.
You can read the news report referenced above at:
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/06/20/32914/california-democrats-pass-budget-governor-remains-/