Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A State Without a Budget :: Day 44 SCHWARZENEGGER PUSHES FOR BUDGET WHILE HOSTING GOVERNORS CONFERENCE

¿what carbon footprint?

Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer

August 13, 2008 1:50 p.m. EST — Sacramento, CA (AHN) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will spend Wednesday shuttling back and forth between giving the state budget a push in Sacramento and opening the 26th Annual Border Governors Conference in Los Angeles.

Aside from the meeting of governors, the conference also features a 3D showing of "Terminator 2" at Universal Studios and a private dinner at the governor's Brentwood mansion.

Schwarzenegger would fly his private jet between the state capital and the conference, which will run until Friday.

The governor said if California's budget, seven weeks overdue, remains by end of August, he will miss the Republican National Convention which opens Sept. 1 in Minneapolis.

On Tuesday, the governor said, "I will not make any commitments... I will not go on vacation. I will not leave the state. I will not do anything until I have a budget."

Aside from dividing his time between solving the budget crisis and socializing with the border governors, Schwarzenegger also has to attend to a lawsuit he filed against state controller John Chiang, who did not implement his order to temporarily reduce salaries of state workers until the budget is approved. California employees have also filed a countersuit against the governor.

Because of the impasse, the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that until the budget is passed, the wages of all California legislators and appointive officials be withheld.

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