Fuck. Politics.

The state of California is supposed to pass a budget every year which would begin its fiscal year on July 1. A 2/3rd majority vote in the Legislature is required to pass a budget and every year they argue and bicker and act like fucking partisan shitheads and the budget gets stalled and stalled and stalled some more. As far back as I can remember the state has never even come close to making its deadline.

Unfortunately this means that organizations that rely on state funding are pretty much screwed. If they're lucky they have money in the bank and can hang on and wait until the funding comes through. One of my clients is not so lucky. They are a nonprofit organization that gets its funding from the California Department of Education. Their contract with the CDE has been renewed but they can't get paid until the state budget is passed. They deal with this every year and being a nonprofit organization that serves kids they are very cash strapped. They've had a bit of a reserve but they've been spending it down and now they're just screwed.

I spent the morning coming up with scenarios for how much longer they had until they have to give notice on their office space. Maybe they can get a loan, and surely the state will pass its budget by January, right? But even so, there's not enough money in the bank to cover expenses past November 30th, no matter what. Once the budget is passed, they'll probably get a check about a month or two later. But in the meantime, they're just fucking screwed. Because of partisan politics. Which brings me back to my original point.

I'm sure Meg Whitman will save us from all of this, so... it's cool.

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