Contractors Starting to Feel Funds Drying Up on Some Projects

Yesterday the Capitol Weekly reported that construction contractors on public works projects were starting to feel the cash crunch that the state is in right now. This includes projects that were financed by bonds approved by voters.

According to the article,

State payments for more than three dozen public works projects are being held up as the state grapples with an unprecedented budget shortage, contractors say. The stopped payments, some $33 million worth, mark the first time that money has been withheld for voter-approved work and signal a delay in the state's planned infrastructure improvements.

"What is creating this angst is that we paid the program payments on work that was not bond-funded first," said Cal-Trans director Will Kempton, who has urged Chiang to make the December payments. "Bond-funded payments came later. We have processed those invoices for payment. The question that has been raised is will the controller make the payments," he added.

Mr, Chiang is in the drivers seat here. I never thought that the State Controller had that much influence over the state, but at times of crisis the roles of our state constitutional officers are defined.