SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Even as California lawmakers passed a budget Friday to end an unprecedented 100-day impasse, their spending plan looked to be so tenuous that the next governor was expected to face a multibillion dollar deficit from the moment he or she steps into office next year.
Two-thirds of the budget solutions signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday afternoon are based on one-time or temporary money - some of which may never materialize.
That will leave California to face "sizable annual budget problems in 2011-12 and beyond," the Legislative Analyst's Office said in a report issued after the Senate passed the main budget bill earlier Friday.
Lawmakers bridged a $19 billion shortfall, more than 20 percent of the $87.5 billion general fund spending plan. It includes no tax or fee increases but uses a combination of cuts, funding shifts, delayed corporate tax breaks and assumptions about money the state hopes to receive.
Among those assumptions is $5.4 billion in new federal funding, which is $4 billion more than the state has received so far this year and $2 billion more than Schwarzenegger projected in the revised budget proposal he released in May. Most of the money has not been authorized by Congress, which could change into Republican hands in November.
The heavy reliance on assumed federal money drew criticism from California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa who called California's budget "an embarrassment."
"It's full of false assumptions and failed gimmicks," Issa, R-Vista, said in statement.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and state lawmakers acknowledge there are no guarantees the state will collect that much more from the federal government. California was among at least 46 states that faced shortfalls this year due to the negative impact of the economy, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Of the $42 billion that has flowed into California from the stimulus program, about $32 billion has been awarded directly to state government for safety-net programs and to help stabilize the deficit, according to the state's recovery task force.
"It's full of false assumptions and failed gimmicks," Issa, R-Vista, said in statement.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and state lawmakers acknowledge there are no guarantees the state will collect that much more from the federal government. California was among at least 46 states that faced shortfalls this year due to the negative impact of the economy, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Of the $42 billion that has flowed into California from the stimulus program, about $32 billion has been awarded directly to state government for safety-net programs and to help stabilize the deficit, according to the state's recovery task force.
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