The Supreme Court of California ruled on Monday that Governor Schwarzenegger's furlough of state workers was legal.  Schwarzenegger said that the furloughs were an essential step towards balancing the California state budget.

The ruling is the culmination of a summer-long legal battleover the layoffs.

Schwarzenegger released a statement after the ruling saying:

"These decisions were absolutely necessary to keep our state functioning. Today’s ruling upholds the state’s actions to protect taxpayers and ensure we live within our means, just like every California family and business must do.”

California residents will have to continue to battle with the cripplingly long lines at the DMV and other state-run agencies that resulted from the action.