US / Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Declares Emergency in Calif. Budget Mess By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:34 PM CDT Copied State Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, left, and Senate Minority Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, R-Temecula, leave the Senate floor. (AP Photo) California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today declared a fiscal emergency and ordered lawmakers to produce a plan to close the state’s $24.3 billion deficit within 45 days, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. To accomplish that, Schwarzenegger called a special session of the legislature, and also ordered 220,000 state employees to take a third additional furlough day each month. (More Arnold Schwarzenegger stories.) Report an error