California, here we come.

Fiscally speaking, that is.

State political leaders met yesterday to discuss the state’s yawning mid-year budget gap — and hinted that New York may be heading down the same perilous path as the Golden State.

In a matter of just months, Gov. Paterson said, the state may be forced to delay payments to vendors, the first sign of a Sacramento-style meltdown.

Meanwhile, this year’s deficit has soared to $3 billion (if not more). And time is running out to plug the gap.

Now, New Yorkers can be forgiven their déjà vu: Only six months ago, the pols supposedly addressed a $14 billion budget hole with massive tax hikes and gimmicks — and just two months before that, a $1.6 billion mid-year shortfall.

But this time, the state’s fiscal crisis is worse — as is its political paralysis.

State revenues continue to plummet, Paterson warned. Plus, he said the tax hikes and accounting tricks used last time would make the gap harder to close now.

And no one has a clue what to do.

(Then again, even if the gov did have ideas — if, say, his fiscal expert and now court-sanctioned lieutenant gov, Richard Ravitch, offered suggestions — Paterson’s political kneecapping this week by President Obama has made him such a lame duck, he now has even less power than ever to see those ideas through.)

Actually, rookie Senate Democratic leader John Sampson had an idea: He immediately cast doubt on the gov’s fiscal projections — while insisting that any budget fix also “balances the [state’s] core values.”

Now what could that possibly mean — except that Dems intend to hold unions and other special interests harmless, should anyone suggest budget cuts?

No, the prospects for New York don’t look good. Question is, does anyone care?