Normlife

In February, [CA State Controller (-dcw)] Chiang withheld $4.1 billion in payments for 30 days, while legislators and the governor hammered out a deal that temporarily closed a gaping budget gap.

But the state is even more strapped for cash now than it was in February. That, Jordan said, "means we may have to go straight to registered warrants. That's something that we are looking at daily."

The last time the state issued registered warrants – and the only time since the Great Depression – was 1992, when the state handed out 1.6 million warrants worth a total of $3.8 billion over a two-month period.

State financial officers say that issuing registered warrants would make it even harder to borrow from commercial markets and private investors – and nearly impossible without a balanced budget in place.