Calif. Senate fails to break budget deadlock as fiscal year ends; state prepares for IOUs

Calif. Senate fails to break budget deadlock

SACRAMENTO — The California Senate has shut down for the night after failing to approve a stopgap plan to stave off the need for IOUs and ease the state’s $24.3 billion budget deficit.

Voting largely along party lines, the Senate rejected three bills designed to save $5 billion, including $3.3 billion in education funding cuts that had to be enacted by midnight Tuesday. The new fiscal year started Wednesday.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell, a Democrat, called Republicans’ refusal to vote for the measures “an irresponsible position to take.”

The end of June marks the end of the fiscal year in many states, meaning lawmakers around the country faced midnight deadlines to pass budgets in a year that has seen the recession take a devastating toll on government finances.