California in State of Undeclared Bankruptcy

California is in a state of “undeclared bankruptcy,” Assemblywoman Diane Harkey said after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered a truncated State of the State address:

“I will not give the traditional State of the State address here today because the reality is that our state is incapacitated until we solve the budget crisis. The truth is that California is in a state of emergency,” Schwarzenegger told a joint session of the legislature on January 15.

Harkey said she was happy to hear the governor’s blunt words, delivered in just a 12-minute speech. “I am encouraged by the governor’s commitment to find a bipartisan solution to our budget crisis,” said Harkey (R-Dana Point). “We must have the political courage to implement real changes to our state’s debt financing practices. Living within our means and establishing reserve requirements just like we did when I was mayor of Dana Point should not be foreign concepts to lawmakers. These fundamentals are essential to turning around California’s ‘undeclared bankruptcy’ as we
can no longer borrow.”