California state controller John Chiang has made the decision to stop paying California lawmakers their $400 per day until the legislators can work together and reach an agreement which would balance the budget.

California Democrats passed a budget last week, but Chiang says that the budget passed by the Democrats spends more money than the state has available for expenditures. He and Republican lawmakers are claiming that the budget has a $1.85 billion gap between expenses and revenues, which they believe the Democrats covered up with fancy accounting.

The Democratic lawmakers are none too pleased about the controller’s decision and are considering a lawsuit to get their pay back and are claiming that Chiang is grandstanding. The California Senate President is concerned that forcing the budget issue so quickly will result in more cuts to California’s budget than any other solution. He also claimed that it may have been unconstitutional for the controller to take away the lawmaker’s salaries.

The issues regarding the budget stem from the lack of a scheduled referendum for taxes. According to the LA Times, the Democrats are unsure about timing a special election for taxes because the low-voter turnouts associated with special elections don’t bode well for tax referendums in general and have been wavering on when to have an election.

The President of the Senate, who is a Democrat, has also said he is angry about the precedent being set by Chiang because the controller should only be responsible for doing the accounting by adding up the numbers and not for cutting off the salaries of the lawmakers.

California’s controller has a lot of power when it comes to auditing the California state budget, but it will be interesting to learn how exactly a legal battle ensues over the lawmaker’s salaries. The president of the California Senate believes that the Democrats have a strong case based on the checks and balances of California’s constitution.

Wonkette had a different take on the Chiang’s actions entirely; the usually liberal website is calling the actions of the lawmakers “whiny” because they are upset about getting their pay cut.

Since California lawmakers earn more than $90,000 per year, Wonkette’s position is understandable. However, when you take into account the amount of social programs that will likely be cut in California as a result of Chiang’s actions, Chiang’s decisions don’t seem so altruistic as they may first seem.