As large as it is, California's projected budget deficit may be only the third worst among the states according to a new survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arizona, with a projected 24.2 percent deficit next year and New York at 20 percent are deeper in the hole than California at 18 percent, the NCSL survey found.

In a rare Budget 101 session, Treasurer Bill Lockyer, Controller John Chiang, Department of Finance Director Mike Genest and Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor will describe the consequences of delaying a compromise over the budget. They're likely to discuss the possibility of issuing IOUs to state vendors and state workers, as well as layoff scenarios and other consequences.

Why would a Republican governor appoint a liberal Democrat from San Francisco to a plum position? He was holding it open as a possible reward to a Republican legislator who would break GOP ranks and vote for new taxes to balance the budget, along with one or two other high-paying board positions. But that opportunity vanished last week, and Schwarzenegger would appoint Migden as a favor to the new Democratic leader of the Senate, Darrell Steinberg.

We asked some people how that $429 would fit into their lives. Here's some of what you told us. Share your opinions in the Capitol and California forum at www.sacbee.com/forums.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers may be banking long-term budget strategies on a revamped state lottery producing enhanced revenues.
But for now, sales from the existing California Lottery are sputtering compared to a year ago, the state lottery commission learned this week.
Lottery ticket sales, including Super Lotto Plus, Mega Millions, Fantasy 5 and scratcher games, dropped by 10 percent during the first four months of the fiscal year beginning July 1.