From the Sacramento Bee:

California will sustain $948 million in welfare cuts and $1.8 billion in higher taxes after fiscal leaders announced Friday that the state will not receive enough federal budget relief to avoid those measures.

As part of a $40 billion deficit solution, state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Department of Finance Director Mike Genest to determine by April 1 whether California will receive $10 billion in federal budgetary aid through June 2010.

Genest’s office issued a statement this morning saying that he and Lockyer believe California will receive only $8.17 billion that qualifies under the criteria in the budget agreement.

Is this the administration’s strategy to deal with the new deficit?