California Counties Relieved Payments to be Released

The California State Association of Counties released the following statement regarding Controller John Chiang’s announcement today that payments will be released by his office:  

California counties appreciate Controller John Chiang quickly working to release payments owed to counties to fund vital health and human services, including CalWORKs, Food Stamps and Foster Care. Counties are relieved the nearly $270 million owed to them last month will soon be sent out, avoiding further disruption to safety net services that millions of Californians rely upon.  

California counties continue to struggle with fiscal crises due to declining revenues and skyrocketing caseload increases. Like the state and nation, this is a difficult time for counties as they work to provide services to residents while having to take dramatic steps to resolve their budget deficits.  

Counties will be eager to assess the Governor’s Revised Budget anticipated in late May or early June. We are all concerned about the direction of the economy and the impacts on the state and local budgets. But counties stand ready to work with the Governor, Legislature, Controller and others to work through this ongoing fiscal crisis.  

The California State Association of Counties, headquartered in Sacramento, is the voice of California’s 58 counties at the state and federal level.