And it's the dawn of a day of reckoning

There are undeniable links — coastal, climate, political, economic, cultural and, of course, sun worshipping — between the palm tree-filled states of Florida and California. Some state watchers go so far to say that what happens in California is often Florida's destiny a few decades later.

Better be careful what we wish for.

"Our wallet is empty. Our bank is closed. Our credit is dried up," declared California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to lawmakers earlier this month. "California's day of reckoning is here" — an ominous quote from the "governator" that sounds like a line right out of Arnold's 1999 apocalyptic movie, End of Days.

That's cold comfort to Florida, whose long-term strategy looks a lot like the Golden State's.

Parallels between Florida and California can seem uncanny. Both are big sunshine states with big coastlines. We suffer hurricanes and California endures earthquakes. California is in the midst of a fiscal disaster while Florida narrowly escaped one, this time. California fights increasing threats of coastal oil and gas drilling. So does Florida.

"The premise that there have been a number of similarities between the two states, and that things have happened in California before they have occurred in Florida. … That would be valid," says Stan Smith, professor of economics and the director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.

But calling California a "role model" whose footsteps Florida dutifully follows may be a stretch, he adds. In this recession, many of California's budget woes also can be found in states other than Florida.

And it's the dawn of a day of reckoning - St. Petersburg Times - June 14, 2009