The Government Affairs Committee of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association recommended that its board of directors call for the California Legislature to stay in session round the clock until its members agree to a new budget. “Lawmakers should not be allowed to leave the Senate and Assembly floors until a budget is passed and given to the governor to sign,” VICA Chairman Greg Lippe saif. “It is outrageous that we are 73 days into the fiscal year without a budget.” According to VICA, the delayed budget is creating millions of dollars in unpaid state bills. Some schools, hospitals and other agencies that receive state funds have been forced to cut both services and staff. “It is extremely frustrating that the Legislature has failed to perform its most important responsibility,” stated VICA Past-Chair Fred Gaines, who motioned for the group’s board of directors to take a stand against the Legislature about the budget. “The fact that there is no sense of urgency among our leaders is even more disgraceful.”
