Schwarzenegger signs state budget

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a state budget Tuesday, allowing the state to pay its overdue bills after a record 85-day budget stalemate.

The $145 billion spending plan is $68 million more than last year's state budget, but sets aside $1.7 billion into a rainy-day fund in case state revenues falter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Republican governor vetoed $510 million in line-item expenditures before signing the spending plan into law.

"Our economy, not in this state alone but in the country and worldwide, is in a situation where we have to be very, very careful with our spending," he said.

The Golden State has been without a budget since its fiscal year began July 1. Partisan bickering over how to plug a $15.2 billion shortfall prevented the Democrat-led Legislature from passing a budget for months.