California in 'Fiscal Emergency'

The governor of California has declared a fiscal emergency in the US state to address a budget deficit of some $24.3 billion. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also ordered many state offices to close for three days each month until June 2010, with staff unpaid for those days. California has been one of the US states hardest hit by the recession. The moves comes after state legislators missed a 1 July deadline to approve a budget for the coming financial year. State Controller John Chiang has said the failure to meet the deadline means the state deficit will increase by up to $6.5 billion by September. Mr. Chiang told the BBC that many vulnerable people had been put in harm's way by the state's failure to agree the budget and to provide "essential dollars to help these people pay their rent, to put food on the table or to pay their utility bill".