California finds $119 million more in untapped funds
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown's administration on Friday announced that $119 million more in untapped money was found in a sweeping audit of state accounts, bringing to more than $286.5 million the sum lawmakers were unaware of as they repeatedly cut government services.
The new discovery includes about $30 million for healthcare programs, almost $29 million for reimbursing crime victims and $12.5 million for cleaning up underground petroleum tanks. It follows revelations that nearly $113 million was languishing in a recycling program funded with consumers' bottle deposits and $54 million had gone unreported by state parks officials.
It's unclear how much of the money identified in the audit, launched last month in the wake of the parks scandal, could have been used to plug the state's deficit. Brown and lawmakers cut more than $1 billion from healthcare in the budget the governor signed five weeks ago.
On Friday, Brown, who had threatened to close 70 parks to help balance the budget, proposed using $20 million of the newfound funds for park maintenance and for matching the private donations that ultimately kept the parks open.
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-state-funds-20120804,0,5328933.story
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