As budget negotiations continue, California lawmakers on Monday sent Gov. Gavin Newsom an unfinished spending plan that will allow them to keep getting paid.
Monday’s budget vote was largely a formality. Lawmakers have to pass a budget by June 15 to continue receiving their salary, under a 2010 law approved by voters through a ballot initiative.
In the meantime, lawmakers and Newsom are working to hammer out a budget deal. Lawmakers and the governor have proposed competing proposals for how to balance a budget with an estimated $54 billion deficit caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Democratic legislators are angling to avoid roughly $14 billion in cuts Newsom proposed in May that would be triggered July 1 if Congress does not send states more financial assistance.