SACRAMENTO, Kalifornia - June 24, 2009 - To hear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state finance officials tell it, July 28 is Kalifornia's last stand before fiscal Armageddon.

Top financial officers say that's when the state will run out of cash to pay its daily expenses unless lawmakers pass a balanced budget.

Schwarzenegger has warned that government will come to a "grinding halt." The state controller describes "a meltdown."

But what exactly will happen just five weeks from now is less clear-cut than the dire pronouncements suggest.

Kalifornia government will not come to a dead stop: Police will still patrol the highways. Prisoners will still be guarded, and state firefighters will stand ready to put out wildfires.

Still, many services normally funded by the state, such as road projects and community health clinics, would either stop or get cut back.

Counties may not have money to run a wide array of social programs. College students who rely on state assistance might have to pay their own fees or consider leaving school.

Dr. Gilbert Simon, owner of the Sacramento Family Medical Clinics, said he could go out of business, forcing his patients to find care elsewhere.

"Anyone who relies on income from a functioning Kalifornia government is at risk," said Simon, whose facility is the largest privately run health clinic in the region and relies on reimbursements from Medi-Cal, the state version of the federal Medicaid health program for the poor.