State schools chief Jack O´Connell says he will ask the state Supreme Court to break the budget stalemate. O´Connell says his strategy follows a ruling by Nevada´s high court to strike down a requirement that two-thirds of lawmakers pass a tax hike.

The Nevada court ruled that education funding trumps procedural rules. O´Connell says the same legal argument can be made in California.

The unprecedented request comes as California lawmakers remain divided over how to solve the state´s financial crisis. The state is almost three weeks into the new fiscal year without a spending plan and operating on borrowed funds that will run out next month.

Governor Davis supports O´Connell´s plan, but Republican Assembly Leader Dave Cox calls the proposal a bad idea.