The wallet's empty, the bank closed and the credit dried up, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told California state lawmakers Tuesday.

As a $24 million budget deficit looms, the three biggest chunks of the state budget are likely targets: education, health care and prisons, Schwarzenegger said.

Each day there are new proposals for ways to close the budget gap, trickling down from Sacramento.

In late May, at a joint legislative budget committee hearing, Schwarzenegger announced a possible elimination of Cal Grants and Healthy Families.

And last Friday, local school districts received wind of a massive reduction in funding for K-12 programs, including transportation services.

All the uncertainty has left some Merced education agencies reeling.

Read the complete story at mercedsunstar.com