California will run out of cash in 14 days

wallet is empty. The bank closed. Credit has dried up, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger told lawmakers in a special Tuesday morning address at
the Capitol.

“California’s day of reckoning is here,” he said. With no action, the
state will run out of cash in 14 days. Three months after the state
budget was approved, California faces a $24 billion deficit.

Schwarzenegger has already proposed massive cuts to education, health
care and prisons. Now he’s looking for structural reform to make
government more efficient and stretch taxpayer dollars.

He’s asked the State Board of Education, for example, to make textbooks
available in digital formats — a move that could save millions.

In 2004, the governor talked about blowing up boxes and consolidating
agencies, but the initiatives never gained traction.

They’re back.

Schwarzenegger is proposing once again to eliminate and consolidate
more than a dozen state departments, boards and commissions. This
includes the Waste Management Board, the Court Reporters Board, the
Department of Boating and Waterways and the Inspection and Maintenance
Review Committee.

Earlier this year, the state began consolidating information technology
departments.

Now Schwarzenegger wants to consolidate departments that oversee
financial institutions and merge tax collection operations. In July,
state leaders will receive recommendations on how to modernize the tax
code.

“This will be a tremendous opportunity to make our revenues more
reliable and less volatile and help the state avoid the boom and bust
budgets that have brought us here today,” Schwarzenegger told lawmakers.

It’s not going to happen in 14 days, he said. But it could happen
before the Legislature adjourns for summer recess on July 17.
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/06/01/daily23.html