California receipts for December reveal good and bad

They were almost 6 percent below the estimates from the state budget, with sales taxes off by 2.3 percent and corporate taxes off by 25.6 percent (some of the money expected in December came in November). "It is clear that next year's budget deficit will not be solved by a surge in revenues," said State Controller John Chiang. "Rather than hope for a miracle, lawmakers must take the tough actions necessary to bring the budget back into balance." Despite December coming in below estimates, revenues were 14.6 percent above December, 2009, This means that money has started to flow back into Sacramento, an unmistakable sign that the economy is on the mend. Gov. Brown will lay out his budget proposal on Monday. Here's the report from the state controller's office.