The Buzz: Fiddler plays the state worker blues

You can view this as enterprising entrepreneurialism – or just a sign of hard times: A young guy with a fiddle has set up shop at various spots near the Capitol lately, scratching out tunes for passers-by.

Next to the guy is an open fiddle case, with a sign in it that reads "Budget Crisis: Please Help."

The fiddler declined to reveal his identity to The Buzz one day last week, but he did volunteer he was a state worker who is still in the probation phase of his employment.

He said he uses what he collects to pay for his noontime meal. This demonstrates either that he who pays the fiddler provides the sandwich, or that if you work for the state, there is no free lunch.

Names in the news

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may flit about the state in private jets, but other constitutional officers have to travel like the rest of the peasantry. State schools chief Jack O'Connell, for example, needed to get from his home in San Luis Obispo to a California Teachers Association meeting in Palm Springs the other day. So he took a plane from SLO – to Phoenix, then to Ontario, then drove to Palm Springs …

Speaking of the guv, a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found his approval rating statewide had skidded from 57 percent in December to just 41 percent in April. But a poll of Sacto-area voters by Cal State University, Sacramento, found the guv's approval rating in this region is still at 58 percent. Hmmm. Maybe his penchant for staying away from Sacramento and out among Californians in other parts of the state is paying off in terms of his political popularity – at least in the capital …

A Minnesota politician is helping California out with its budget problems, sort of. Al Franken – the comedian-radio talk show host-author-turned Democratic U.S. Senate candidate – has agreed to fork over about $4,700 he owes the state in back corporate taxes for income he earned making various appearances here since 2003. It's part of $70,000 in unpaid taxes Franken's accountants discovered he owes 17 states. The discovery, or course, came after some prompting by Republicans.

On the other hand …

A coalition of labor groups and attorneys is lobbying hard for approval of SB 1717, which would double, over a three-year period, the number of weeks of benefits that can be paid to workers injured on the job.

And as part of that effort, the coalition has produced a chart comparing what different states' workers' compensation programs pay for various permanent injuries.

In California, for example, loss of a thumb is worth $21,010, while in Oregon it's worth $91,769. Lose a fourth finger in this state, and you're in line for $3,960 (the same as a third finger, but $4,455 less than a second finger.) But lose a fourth finger in New York and you can recoup $6,000.

The least lucrative appendage is any toe but the big one in California ($660), while the most highly valued is a leg, at the hip, in Illinois ($289,297).

About the writer:

• The Buzz is compiled by The Bee's Capitol Bureau and written by Bee columnist Steve Wiegand. Reach him at (916)321-1076 or swiegand@sacbee.com.