SACRAMENTO--California’s money woes can best be described as a ‘cash abyss’.

Budget analyst Jason Dickerson looks at both sides of the ledger. He finds that while the state is suffering from a decline in revenue, credit is more difficult to get.

“The bottom line is that, one way or another, if there’s not enough cash to pay the bills, something has to give.”

State Controller John Chiang says that the state's cash crunch would allow him to make school, college and some welfare payments. But, it would force him to delay $3-billion in other payments, including those for state income tax refunds and many health and welfare programs.

Story Date: January 21, 2009