A few days ago, we reported that Gov. Schwarzenegger organized a lavish conference with world leaders on environmental concerns. Now, the Sacremento Bee reports that several California lawmakers are attending conferences all over the world. Yet, CAIVP has just received exclusive inside information that California is facing a budget crisis, leaving us pondering: where are our leaders and what are they going to do about our money problem? From the Bee:

More than a dozen state lawmakers have missed much of the special legislative session called to tackle the state's fiscal mess, instead traveling to India, China and Hawaii to learn about education, high-speed rail and dams.

The legislators include Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, and several Assembly Budget Committee members who missed a hearing on the crisis on Friday. At least two of the lawmakers are not expected to return by Sunday's planned floor sessions of the Senate and the Assembly, their staff members said.

"Obviously, they're not taking the problem (the state's budget mess) as seriously as the rest of us," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at Sacramento State University. "It's an acute financial situation for the state. I wouldn't be out of the country when I'm supposed to be solving this problem."...

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