The Boston Tea Party of California

A spokesman for the California State Controller's Office summed up California’s problem as, "We have a $100 billion budget and a $40 billion deficit. It's like we have $10 in bills and only $6 in our pockets to pay those bills at this time."

Los Angeles County supervisors threatened to withhold county revenues from the state in order to pay for local health and social services.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted to sue the state to prevent it from shifting the financial burden onto the county for the provision of state-funded services.

And in Sacramento County, officials announced they too planned to file a lawsuit against the state and Controller John Chiang for withholding millions of dollars - most of it for social service programs.

A coalition of six California counties will meet with state legislators in Sacramento to rattle the cage and discuss possible options to the State’s bankruptcy. It could prove instrumental in putting pressure on to reach some kind of accord. About 20 million people reside in the six counties, which equates to about half the state's population.