California Crisis May Crunch $3.8 Billion of Jobs in Slowdown

[marmar]

California Crisis May Crunch $3.8 Billion of Jobs in Slowdown
By Michael Janofsky


Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Just $5 million of work is needed to complete a new California Court of Appeals building in Santa Ana. The state may not have the money, and come July judges may be writing opinions in their living rooms.

“I’ve been on the bench for 23 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said David G. Sills, the presiding justice for the Fourth District Court of Appeals, Division Three, in a telephone interview.

California’s worst budget crisis has held up $3.8 billion in spending on public works, possibly including the courthouse adjacent to Santa Ana City Hall. Sills and his seven fellow jurists had planned to move in before the lease on their temporary offices expires June 30.

“Everyone will have to work from home,” said Sills, 70, “and we’ll have to rent a place for when we hear arguments.”

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic-controlled Legislature are deadlocked on how to close a two-year budget gap that grew to $42 billion as job losses and stalled consumer spending reduced income and sales taxes. Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders met yesterday without a resolution and are scheduled to continue talks through the holidays.

The California Pooled Money Investment Board, a committee that manages state spending, voted Dec. 17 to halt construction outlays for six months, which could hurt an economy that has lost more than 118,000 construction jobs in the last two years.

“The infrastructure work so vital to getting our economy back on track will lie crippled,” California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said in a statement after the vote. The board’s members are Lockyer, state Controller John Chiang and the governor’s budget director, Michael C. Genest. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a5GbgGwA7BKM&refer=home

[global1]

1. Recall Ahh-nold !!!!!!!! .....nt