CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : State Fund Suffers Record Cash Deficit

The state general fund ended the 1990-91 fiscal year on June 30 with a record $4.65-billion cash deficit, Controller Gray Davis announced on Thursday. Davis said that during the last year state disbursements of $43.18 billion exceeded receipts by $2.62 billion. There was a $2.03-billion cash deficit carried over from the 1989-90 fiscal year. “Clearly, the recession had a devasting impact on state revenues,” Davis said. “However, I am cautiously optimistic the structural reforms in the new state budget package (approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pete Wilson earlier this month), coupled with an economic rebound in the year ahead, will improve California’s financial health.”