puts undue pressure on you guys. i think it does. certainly does. the pressure to pass a budget should be on good policy, good decisions and what is best for the people of california, not on whether you get paid or not. we ll have to scrape by just like a lot of hard working families are doing right now. reporter: the state controller, however, may not have any choice but to certify the budget even if it s full of gimmicks and questionable money. why? we don t have the authority to go in and ferret that out. all reporter: if there s smoke and mirrors there s nothing ooh you can do. nothing we can do. reporter: if it is a balanced budget on smoke and mirrors you have to declare it balanced. if the revenues in that budget bill, whether or not they are gonna actually come to pass or not, that s a balanced budget under the constitution. reporter: no matter how unrealistic it is the minute you take it out into public? unfortunately, yes. reporter: and that