The so-called stopgap measure was the focus of much consternation last night, and more than a few tweets from the governor. I don’t think anyone had any illusions that the stopgap was a broad based solution, but Arnold’s brinksmanship and refusal to avoid the IOUs was, well, typical Arnold Schwarzenegger 4.5, the Shock Doctrinaire. This was the most notable tweet:

It’s almost 10 and they r still running drills upstairs. Trying 2 pass the same bills I vetoed hours ago. We need 2 solve entire deficit.(Schwarzenegger Twitter 6/30/09)

Of course, this completely discounts the possibility of a legislative override of Schwarzenegger’s veto.  You can’t really blame the Governor for forgetting that such a process exists in our state Constitution, as there hasn’t been an override in over 25 years.  Heck, the Legislature couldn’t even get together to override bills passed unanimously.  But, just to be clear, the stopgap votes were not drills. If the Dems could have attained the two Republican votes, they would have gone through the override process.  And, with St. Abel’s crazy waiting game, it appears that he was just waiting for one Republican to join him.  No one did.

But, what exactly is that stopgap? For the most part, it is delays in funding for education. John Myers does some explaining:

Of course, now the sobering news: the $3.3 billion in missed savings is now being estimated as adding $8 billion in problems for the state budget. For that, you only have to look to the voter-approved Proposition 98, whose complicated formulas are based on spending in the previous fiscal year. Because that school spending wasn’t reduced by $3.3 billion, it comes out on the other side as much more.

(There were varying accounts by the end of the drama as to the ballooned size of the missed savings; the above came from comments on the floor by Sen. Denise Ducheny, chair of the upper house’s budget committee. Some estimates call it a $7 billion problem. And then another question: does that mean the deficit is now… $28 billion? Too much math.) (Capital Notes 6/30/09)

You can’t really win for losing in the state budget process, but what this delay really means is a bit surprising.  It means that under Prop 98, the schools must get additional funds.  It’s probably not the worst thing for the schools, our future, or the teachers. As a side note, I don’t know what exactly the California Teachers Association’s position on this whole stopgap measure was, but the failure to pass the stop gap does provide teachers with additional leverage.

Of course, the problem is now that additional cuts will have to be made from other sectors of the budget because they cannot be made from education. So that means more cuts to the social safety net, state parks, etc. With so much of the budget untouchable due to ballot box budgeting, the takeaway from May 19: “Sacramento, do your job” seems increasingly challenging.  Or, more accurately: Sacramento do your job whilst in handcuffs, wearing cement shoes and sinking in the Delta.