The way California's budget process works, we have to have a super-majority to pass a budget, tax increase or cut. So, if the minority party can get 34% of the vote, they can block a budget from being passed.
Couple that with a bug in the system that allows politicians to put a budget item on a ballot initiative. If it passes, it must be funded.
So, it's easier to amend our state constitution (simple majority on a ballot initiative) than it is to pass a budget (67% legislature vote).
And, our revenue base is weighted heavily on sales taxes and income taxes as opposed to property taxes (because of ballot initiatives), and we have really big boom/bust cycles in our tax revenue. It's amazing that California does as well as it does with such a ham-strung system.