O.C. Group’s Suit Urges State: Pass Budget Before Paying Bills
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LOS ANGELES — The chairman of a taxpayers watchdog group in Orange County filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor and state officials seeking to prevent the state from paying as many as 250,000 public workers before passing a budget.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, charges that the state is violating state law by paying its bills and employees when the Legislature has not adopted a state budget, more than three weeks after its deadline.
Citing the state Constitution, the suit alleges that if the Legislature has not passed a budget by midnight June 15, it may not take money from the state treasury.
The complaint was filed by Steven White, a chairman of the Committees of Correspondence, a coalition of taxpayer groups that monitors government issues.
Legal experts and legislators familiar with the laws involved say the state has little choice but to continue paying its bills, with or without a budget.
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