People who provide state-funded child care and pre-school services to low income Californians are among those being hit hardest by the budget stand off.
As the impasse drags into its third month, some of those providers are wondering how long they can hold on.
Patty Siegel is with the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. She says many of those centers are almost entirely reliant on their funding from the state... and September is a tough time to be broke.
Siegel: The crisis couldn't be coming at a worse time because in fact while the summer months may be with vacations a little bit less intense, September is one of our most intensive months for child care.
State Department of Education staff say they're hearing about centers closing all over California.
And there's no relief in sight. State lawmakers remain gridlocked over how to address a 15-billion-dollar budget shortfall.
