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Well, California State Controller today began issuing IOUs instead of checks to pay the bills. Correspondent Claudia Cowan reports that's just one sign of the state's continuing budget crisis.

"Arnold, Arnold, shame on you." While employees in cash strapped California protested the addition of a third unpaid day off each month, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger blasted the Democrat-controlled legislature for putting union interests first, leaving the state more than 26 billion dollars in the red. "They also refused to undertake reforms to root out a massive waste, fraud and abuse in some of our largest programs. "

The governor accused lawmakers of resisting reforms in healthcare and welfare and the state prison system, some of the biggest costs draining state coffers.

"We don’t have the money to pay our bills. And we don’t have the money because the legislature has decided that it is more important to protect state employees and to protect all of the different people and labor and special interests, rather than protecting those people and protecting the people of California, the taxpayers. "

Sacramento is now issuing IOUs which could run into the billions by the end of the month. Registered warrants that would cost taxpayers even more in the long run due to interests charges and hurt the state's credit rating. Among the state's contractors expecting an IOU instead of a paycheck, medical supply vendor Terry Shirley who's owed 700 thousand dollars and wonders if he will continue doing business with California. "I have some hesitation right now because I wanna see them do something that shows that they're gonna try to fix the problem."

Both sides are digging in their heels with Democrats demanding new taxes to close the deficit, and Republicans calling for broader cuts and also insisting that the entire 26 billion dollar deficit be solved now, not pushed ahead to the next fiscal year as the majority has suggested. Despite the heated rhetoric the governor is hopeful a compromise can be reached before the California runs completely out of cash at the end of the month.

In San Francisco, Claudia Cowan, Fox News.