At least seven other states — among them Connecticut, Utah and Wisconsin — have reported budget surpluses in recent weeks, setting the stage for legislative battles that, if not as wrenching as the ones over cuts, promise to be no less pitched. Lawmakers are debating whether the new money should be used to restore programs cut during the recession, finance tax cuts or put into a rainy-day fund for future needs.

More: California’s New Problem - Too Much Money

You can argue that in some of these states with Republicans in control their influence mattered. But all of those states were recipients of “Obama’s” Federal stimulus and none of them have had the urn around experienced by California.