Schwarzenegger declares fiscal emergency due to $28 billion deficit

2008-12-02 18:28:36  

  LOS ANGELES, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) --

U.S. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday declared a fiscal emergency in response to the state's deteriorating finances.

    California, the most populous state in the United States, could run out of cash by February or March, the governor warned, urging lawmakers to "get off of their rigid ideologies."

    Schwarzenegger said immediate action was essential because although the state projected a 28-billion-dollar deficit by mid-2010, California was on track to run out of cash by February or March.

    Despite the warning, there is little indication that California's partisan gridlock has waned enough to allow for an easy resolution to the state's 28-billion-dollar budget gap, analysts said.

    "Now, I compare the situation that we are in right now to finding an accident victim on the side of the road that is bleeding to death," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference at his Los Angeles office. "We wouldn't spend hours debating over which ambulance we should use, or which hospital we would use, or which treatment the patient needs. No, we would first stop the bleeding, and that's exactly the same thing we have to do here."

    California's financial crisis has deepened due to the partisan gridlock between Republicans and Democrats. Republican lawmakers, who last week blocked a Democratic proposal to cut billions of dollars from schools, health care and welfare programs while tripling the vehicle license fee, quickly reiterated their opposition to any new taxes, which both Schwarzenegger and Democrats say are indispensable.

    Democratic legislators again dismissed some of Schwarzenegger's proposals to ease labor rules on business in order to boost the economy.

    Schwarzenegger said that if lawmakers failed to act within 45 days as required under his declaration of a fiscal emergency, they would have to find an additional 1.5 billion to 2 billion dollars in savings or new revenue above what was needed right now.

    He said the administration was already drawing up plans to lay off state workers. "It's like an avalanche, that it gains momentum," he said.

Editor: Zheng E