Controller: $2.19 billion in California bills may go unpaid without budget
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State Controller John Chiang has released a list of the more than $2.19 billion in bills he says the state cannot pay in August without a budget in place.
Chiang posted the full list for August on the controller’s website. It includes $284 million to community colleges, $130 million in payment due to K-12 schools and nearly $450 million from businesses that have contracts with the state.
The $2.19-billion figure is in addition to the estimated $1.16 billion in bills Chiang could not pay in July with no budget in place. Chiang estimated he can legally pay $15.16 billion of the state’s bills this month, even without a budget.
But the controller has also warned of a coming cash crunch that could force him to issue IOUs by the end of August to conserve cash to make debt payments and pay other essential bills.
-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento