California Governor Slices Nearly $1B With Line-Item Veto

Governor Slices Nearly $1B With Line-Item Veto

Schwarzenegger Signs California's 100-Days-Late Budget

POSTED: 6:20 pm PDT October 8, 2010
UPDATED: 7:00 pm PDT October 8, 2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California's 100-days-late budget Friday evening, but not before making nearly $1 billion worth of changes.The governor's staff said the budget was signed at about 5:30 p.m.Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto to cut $960 million. Among the biggest cuts:

• $366 million from CalWorks, also known as welfare to work; administration officials said they hope to make up the cut with an advance from the federal government.
• $256 million from child care subsidies, affecting families of about 55,000 children statewide.
• $133 million from mental health services for about 30,000 special education students.

The budget is so tenuous that the next governor already is expected to face a multibillion dollar shortfall by the time he or she is sworn in this January.According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, two-thirds of the steps taken to bridge the $19 billion deficit are based on one-time or temporary money, some of which may never materialize.The budget for the current fiscal year has no tax increases but relies on a combination of cuts, funding shifts and assumptions about money the state hopes to receive.