Even with the fiscal games that can be played, there needs to be a budget in place and signed by the governor before July 1 or the state will begin to have problems in paying its bills. In the bad old days when there were stalled budget negotiations in a bipartisan setting, there were episodes in which the state did go beyond July 1 without a budget in place - sometimes well beyond - and bills were not paid.
Technically, the governor has a line-item veto which could be exercised after a real budget is passed by the legislature. But because deals are typically cut between legislative leaders and the governor, such vetoes are now rare.
Stay tuned.
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