The State Worker

The Schwarzenegger administration this afternoon released more implementation details of the furlough plan.

Officials said they are granting agencies flexibility to stay open the first and third Fridays of each month, when the bulk of departments will close.

Here's how to read the chart.

Departments not listed will take furloughs the first and third Fridays of each month.

Employees in the departments marked "monthly" will take their two furlough days each month, but not all on the same day.

Those marked +24 will take their days "sometime over the next 18 months or within two years afterward," according to the administration.

The Legislative Analyst's Office has released this budget report, which includes a discussion of employee compensation and state worker furloughs on pages 5 through 11. This section caught our attention:

More Detail Needed on Furlough to Ensure Real Cost Savings Are Possible.

While we acknowledge the need for difficult measures to reduce General Fund employee costs over the next 17 months, the administration's proposals still lack many important details. For many departments, closing offices on the first and third Fridays of each month -- as the Governor has directed in connection with his furlough executive order -- could work as a cost-saving measure. These reduced employee hours would result in diminished services received by the public.

For 24-hour institutions such as state hospitals and prisons, however, the administration apparently intends to give workers two more days a month of leave time. It is assumed that the leave would be accumulated by workers and used as a substitute for paid vacation time. In other words, the assumption is that workers at these institutions will take as many days off as they otherwise would--just that 34 of those days (two days per month times 17 months) will be furlough days and not paid vacation days.

If, on the other hand, employees at 24-hour institutions take the time off they ordinarily would for paid vacation and, in addition, take their furlough days off, this would mean that other workers would have to work for more hours--often earning overtime--to cover for the employee's extra leave time. While departmental budgets include a baseline amount to cover expected overtime costs, institutional budgets do not include funds to cover extra overtime costs in this particular scenario.

Alternatively, state hospitals, prisons, and other institutional facilities could alter shifts and scheduling arrangements to account for the possibility that average daily staffing levels would be reduced because of the furloughs. This option, however, could affect health and safety at these institutions and run afoul of court or consent-decree requirements for staffing.

The LAO also released its analysis of Judicial and Criminal Justice spending. Cap Bureau colleague Dan Walters wrote about prison cost today. You can read his column here.

The reports are the latest installments of the 2009-10 Budget Analysis Series issued by Mac Taylor's office.

IMAGE: Mac Taylor. Sacramento Bee file photo / Brian Baer

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

It was comparison week on The State Worker:

Jan. 22 The State Worker: Furlough order's uncertainties cause anxiety

Ok, Someone help me out here, I just don't get this logic. Everyone is taking aim at state workers and trying to blow their heads off because of the jobs they have. So, why aren't you shooting at Intel employees? They have a great stock option plan, excellent insurance and retirement. Or why not any of the other large corporations, say, the Big 4 in Detroit, their union gets outrageous wages for it's members.

There are plenty of differences between Intel and state government. Private enterprises must gauge customer needs, change with ever-shifting trends and, in most cases, deal with stiff competition. Publicly owned companies must satisfy their investors. If they fail to do any of those things, they risk failure and dissolution. Intel can disappear if it is mismanaged.

Not so with government, as recent events underscore.

Our culture tends to value risk takers and devalue those perceived as avoiding risk. This is, we believe, the essence of the hard feelings so many have toward state workers, particularly in tough economic times like these when the riskiness of private enterprise is laid bare.

Jan. 23 CHP swears in 178 new officers

Funny how you forgot to include the numbers of incidents or calls they have to respond to. Are there enough officers to handle those calls? This group may have been hired to cover shortages throughout the state. But we'll never know, because you only wanted to stir up the hate about new hires at the state.

Stirring up "hate" for state workers is not the agenda for this blog or its companion column. We aim to dispense useful and timely information, provide fair analysis, stimulate rigorous, thoughtful debate and build a social network among State Worker blog users.

One way to accomplish that last goal is to recognize significant accomplishments by state employees. We think that successfully completing the CHP Academy falls into that category.

Jan. 23 Pension reform crusader e-mails The State Worker

Sacramento Bee: Do you know what you are doing with this crusade of yours? You are de-humanizing State Employees. Seems to me that the Bee's actions are very similar to a German leader's actions about 80 years ago. Just change "State Employees" to "Jews"...

Comparing Nazi propaganda intended to foment ethnic hatred to a blog post highlighting public sentiment about state public employee pensions is extreme, to say the least. Our publication of the McCauley e-mail, or any e-mail or letter, should not be construed as supporting the author's position.

And speaking of over-the-top comparisons ...

Jan. 26 Has Obama taught public pension reformers how they can win too?

Comparing Keith Rich Man with President Obama is like comparing Jeffrey Dahmer with Mother Teresa. Other than sharing some DNA they don't have much in common. The internet worked for Obama because he had a positive message of moving towards a win win society. The median intelligence of internet users is above that of society as a whole. This worked in Obama's favor.

Richman and his negative message of doom is DOA with any intelligent group. CalPERS needs to be improved. I would certainly support an alternate 401k for those of us who don't benefit from CalPERS--average state workers who don't retire at age 55. Keith doesn't want any logical approach like that. He's the nasty kid in fourth grade who takes the lunch money and beats the victim up anyway.

We would appreciate exposure to any studies that indicate, "The median intelligence of internet users is above that of society as a whole."

Jan. 28 Union membership grew in 2008

Bee, if I understand what you are reporting correctly, CA's percentage of Unionized workers is up compared to last year, and is well above the national average. I think you missed the mark in the lead for the story. I would like to see how CA is ranked with other States, surely you can run/repeat some numbers for us from the BLS report? It would be appreciated!

A legitimate criticism. We would have focused more on California, but the demands of covering the furlough drama and writing our weekly State Worker column on Wednesday forced us to abbreviate our post. We included this link in the post, knowing that some users would want more info.

States with the highest percentage of workers who are members of a labor union or an employee association or workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union or an employee association contract: New York (26.6 percent), Hawaii (25.5), Alaska (24.7), Washington (21.5), Minnesota (19.6) and California (19.5).

Note: Watch for a special blog back soon regarding Thursday's furlough ruling.

Professional Engineers in California Government has posted this statement on its Web site. PECG was the first union to file a court action against the governor's furlough. We expect more unions to follow suit, so to speak.

July 27, 2009 note: The link to the Marlette decision has been repaired. Thanks to blog user J for making us aware of the break.

Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette has released his final ruling from today's furlough hearing. We expect that union lawyers are already digesting it and preparing to appeal the decision as soon as Friday morning.

Here's the link to the Marlette decision. We're working on a story for tomorrow's cyber/fiber Bee, and we'll be blogging as events unfold.

The phone calls and e-mails are mounting since Judge Patrick Marlette this morning upheld Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order. Our Cap Bureau colleagues, Kevin Yamamura and Andrew McIntosh, are working with us to keep you updated. Go here for our evolving online furlough story at sacbee.com.

Some quick-hit news:

SEIU just filed a new unfair labor practice charge, which you can read by clicking here..

Here's the press release reaction to today's court action from state Controller John Chiang.

Here's the governor's statement about the furlough ruling.

Courtroom View Network, a Webcasting company that delivers live and recorded court proceedings via the Internet, is covering this morning's furlough lawsuit hearings.

CVN won't have a live feed from Sacramento's Superior Court, however, and the network is a subscription service. So if you want to watch the hearing, provided without commentary or interruption, you'll have to fork over $199.

Here's CVN's letter requesting access to the proceedings.

IMAGE: Logo used with permission of Courtroom View Network

We've said it before: Watch what's happening with local public pensions, state workers.

There's a link between what's happening at the city and county level and the state. This story by Claremont Courier reporter Tony Krickl hints at it.

CalPERS came up during a forum on Wednesday that featured Claremont city council candidates Corey Calaycay, Bridget Healy and Larry Schroeder. Like many local governments, the Southern California city of Claremont will probably have to pay more to the fund eventually to make up for the losses that CalPERS has suffered in the last year.

From Krickl's story:

The final question of the evening sparked some heated comments. Pulling a question from the audience, moderator Barbara Musselman asked the candidates about the CalPERS shortfall for city employees and how the problem should be addressed.

With careers in government behind them, all three candidates have personal stakes in the CalPERS system.

Ms. Healy did not think Claremont should make any changes to the system at a local level.

"If we are to address the PERS issue, I believe it needs to be done on a statewide basis," Ms. Healy said. "I don't think this is something that Claremont can solve on its own. What concerns me is that if there is no statewide solution, I worry about the impact on recruitment and retention of employees. I worry that employees would leave one city to go to another, for example if Claremont reduced its PERS options ..."

Mr. Schroeder said the city should hire an independent actuarial "with experience on this in other cities so we could get fresh perspectives and see what options are available to us."

"The reality of the situation is the PERS Board is a real political animal," he said. "And although I think it would be great if we could get legislation through and have somebody sponsor that, it would be a real uphill battle."

Mr. Calaycay said Claremont could lower the benefit percentages through a 2-tiered system from 2.5 percent at 55 to 2 percent at 55, since the city already offers some benefits more generous than other cities.

"Some of [the problems] need to be worked out through the PERS program and some of it we created ourselves," he said.

Healy's comment that public pension changes need to be done "on a statewide basis" echoes what we've been saying since we started this blog: Pension pressure from local governments could eventually build sentiment for a statewide campaign to change benefits for future hires or subject benefit increases to some sort of public review or vote.

SEIU Local 1000 has filed a second lawsuit challenging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order. The first lawsuit questions the governor's authority to furlough state workers. The new one challenges the process leading up to the order.

The latest SEIU filing will not be part of Thursday's Superior Court hearing.

Also, the governor said publicly today that he'll rely more heavily on layoffs to save money if the unions don't agree to furloughs.

Cap Bureau colleague Kevin Yamamura has whipped up an online story about what Schwarzenegger said at the Sacramento Press Club event today. Check the fiber and cyber editions of The Bee tomorrow for more coverage of this developing story.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger got a question at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon Wednesday about his recent proposal to consolidate state information technology divisions: Would it result in layoffs?

Schwarzenegger didn't answer directly, but he did make clear that budget savings is his goal.

The governor wants to save the state $1.5 billion by integrating four agencies -- the Office of the State Chief Information Officer, the Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection, the Department of Technology Services and the telecommunications division of the Department of General Services.

He said the effort will bring under "one roof" IT services for 130-some state agencies and other entities. 

"What we will do is we will make government run more efficiently, which we owe to the taxpayers," he said. 

The governor's plan will go to the state's Little Hoover Commission for review. The commission will have 60 days to submit recommendations on the idea to the Legislature.

The Bureau of Labor statistics reports today that union membership grew last year to 12.4 percent, up from 12.1 percent in 2007. It was the second year in a row of union growth.

The union membership nationwide increased by 428,000 to 16.1 million. That's still well below the level of union membership the government reported in 1983, the first year for which data is available. That year, 20.1 percent of workers were in a union, about 17.7 million people.

California has 2.74 million union members, about 18.4 percent of the state's employed workers. Another roughly 169,000 employees are covered by union bargaining agreements, bringing total union representation in the state to 19.5 percent.

Other highlights noted by the BLS:

• Government workers were nearly five times more likely to belong to a union than were private-sector employees.
• Workers in education, training, and library occupations had the highest unionization rate at 38.7 percent.
• Black workers were more likely to be union members than were white, Asian, or Hispanic workers.
• Among states, New York had the highest union membership rate (24.9 percent) and North Carolina had the lowest rate (3.5 percent).

Click here for far more details, tables and charts about union membership.

CDF Firefighters has filed a furlough lawsuit but it won't be rolled into tomorrow's Superior Court hearing. You can view the document here.

As tomorrow's furlough court hearing approaches, we recommend you check out today's scorecard by Capitol Bureau Chief Dan Smith to get a refresher on the players, the positions and the law. You can see it here.

You also can reference The Bee's list of links to furlough court docs, which is available by clicking here.

One document in particular caught our attention for its wealth of information, the expansively titled "Notice of Hearing and Demurrer to Verified Petitions for Writ of Mandate and Complaints for Declartory and Injunctive Relief."

The first half, 68 pages, is mostly copies of SEIU bargaining unit agreements.

But the 72-page second part contains these exhibits:

• Pages 29 to 35: SEIU's Dec. 22 furlough PERB filing
• Pages 37 to 44: SEIU bargaining material.
• Page 49: Management's Nov. 9 furlough proposal to SEIU.
• Pages 51 to 57: SEIU's questions and DPA's responses (and non-responses) about the furlough plan.
• Page 57: DPA's breakdown by SEIU bargaining unit of estimated 1-day- and 2-day-per-month furlough savings. (It's a poor copy; you'll need to magnify the document in your Adobe reader.)
• Pages 63 to 68: The state's Nov. 18 "conceptual proposal" to SEIU's nine bargaining units.

We're not schooled in the law, so it's possible that our list here misses important items tucked into the filing. We're confident that State Worker blog users, including lawyers and judges, will comb through this stuff. We look forward to your insightful observations and analysis.

IMAGE: Judge Patrick Marlette / Sacramento Bee file photo / Randy Pench

We've just learned from a source close to Thursday's furlough hearing that it appears Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette will not issue a tentative furlough lawsuit ruling on Wednesday.

The same source had told us this morning to expect a tentative ruling ahead of the Thursday morning furlough hearing.

Tentative rulings are preliminary and rarely-changed decisions that judges release before a hearing like the one scheduled Thursday to determine whether the governor's December furlough order is legal. A judge can be convinced to change a tentative order before making it final, but it's rare.

Regardless, if news in the case breaks tomorrow, we'll have it. And, of course, The State Worker will attend the hearing in Department 19 on Thursday at 9 a.m. to report what happens.

While all eyes have been fixed on Thursday's big court hearing on whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has the authority to furlough state workers, the big news could go down the day before.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette may issue a tentative ruling on Wednesday afternoon. Attorneys for the unions and the governor have already filed written arguments, and Marlette has been considering them for several days. His tentative ruling would be an indication which way he is leaning .

Judges rarely change their tentative rulings.

Look for the losing side to immediately appeal, which will then raise another question: Will the appellate court tell the state it can't execute furloughs until it hears the case?

And here's another possibility: The whole thing becomes moot because the unions and the state reach a labor deal. We hear that SEIU is bargaining around the clock.

CalPERS today named Anne Simpson as its Senior Portfolio Manager for Corporate Governance.

She will oversee CalPERS' Focus List program, which monitors financial performance and corporate governance practices of companies in which the fund is invested. CalPERS did not announce when Simpson, who lives in London, would start her new job.

Simpson comes to CalPERS from the non-profit International Corporate Governance Network, where she was executive director. The organization represents investors responsible for $15 trillion in global assets, according to this press release. ICGN's mission is "to generally promote good corporate governance," according to the organization's Web site.

Simpson, 50, has written books on investment and corporate governance and teaches at the Yale School of Management. She graduated from Oxford University and was a Slater Fellow at Wellesley College. ICGN has posted her bio and a photo here.

The California Association of Psychiatric Technicians filed a lawsuit on Friday on behalf of its 7,000 members.

The association's filing contends that Schwarzenegger's furlough order violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act because psychiatric technicians would still have to work around the clock at state facilities but would not be paid for all of their time. It also argues that a 10 percent salary adjustment requires legislative approval.

The CAPT lawsuit is separate from others scheduled for a hearing in Sacramento's State Superior Court on Thursday. Union spokeswoman Brady Oppenheim this morning said that the CAPT suit doesn't have a hearing date yet.

We wrote in last week's State Worker column about the problems furloughs create for state workers at 24-hour facilities. The Department of Personnel Administration has said that it will issue more detailed furlough policies soon after negotiating the specifics with state worker unions.

Click here to download CAPT's 9-page court filing. You can go here to read the association's press release.

We had coffee this morning with Anne Staines, head of ProProse, a local marketing firm that has done work for several state and local government agencies.

Our far-reaching conversation touched on the marketing savvy shown by Barack Obama's presidential campaign in using technology to raise money and promote his candidacy. "He really pushed the industry ahead by five years, at least," Anne said.

Then we got to our office and found this lead to a piece on the Calpensions blog:

Former Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge, may use the Internet to gather signatures and raise campaign funds for a public employees pension initiative, a tactic used by President Obama in his successful campaign.

For more about the Richman initiative, click on today's Blog Back and look for The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility note at the end of the post.

IMAGE: Sacramento Bee / Randall Benton

The Ventura County Star on Friday ran an opinion column by Thomas D. Elias that chides lawmakers for failing to pursue "all logical and available methods" for straightening out the state budget mess before "asking big sacrifices of both school children and state employees."

... Schwarzenegger's plan is both unfair and destructive. In every detail, from furloughs to Medi-Cal cuts, it victimizes workers and the working poor more than the wealthy. Children of the wealthy who attend private schools would not see their class time and academic opportunities reduced. Computer-literate members of the upper- and middle-economic demographics could still conduct business with the state online, while those in lower educational and economic groups who tend to have less cybernetic training would at least be inconvenienced by shuttered Department of Motor Vehicles offices and others.

You can read the Elias piece by clicking here.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Jan. 21 Controller Chiang says no to furlough order

Looks like another one of those boxes he's always talking about just blew up in the GOV's face.

Speaking of John Chiang standing up to the Governor....does anyone know the status of the lawsuit challenging the Governor's attempt to pay State employees federal minimum wage in the absence of a budget? I understood that the lawsuit was going forward in hopes of preventing him from doing this next summer (and beyond), but I've never heard an update/outcome.

The state court hearing on Gilb v. Chiang is Feb. 27. At issue is whether the Controller violated California's Constitution and the State Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in White v. Davis when he issued full paychecks to state employees without budget authorization last summer.

why is it that no one seems to remember that Schwarzenegger wants to impose furloughs AND lay off 20% of the state employees?

We mentioned in our latest Thursday State Worker column that both furloughs and layoffs are possible.

However, it's not accurate to say that Schwarzenegger wants to lay off 20 percent of state employees. Executive Order S-16-08 instructs DPA to "work with all State agencies and departments to initiate layoffs and other position reduction and program efficiency measures to achieve a reduction in General Fund payroll of up to ten percent."

Another part of the order requires that DPA "place the least senior twenty percent of state employees funded in any amount by General Fund resources on the State Restriction of Appointment (SROA) list."

SROA employees may apply for other jobs in state government. DPA's Web site explains the process.

Jan. 22 The State Worker: Furlough order's uncertainties cause anxiety

The calls for across the board 10% cuts is akin to an old time ship's captain calling to lighten the load by removing 10% of the ship's wood. No matter if the planks are his cabin walls or the ship's hull, 10% has to go. Sure, it's math simple enough for knee-jerk conservatives to understand but look at the ramifications. We need leaders who can find the right cuts to make and make them no matter who's comfortable bunk is lowered.

A thoughtful comment that makes a point using an apt analogy.

Jan. 23 From the notebook: Scenes from a rally

walkers and wheelchairs belong inside??? You come off like a jerk with a commment (sic) like that.

We included the note in the post to show that folks who appeared to be in ill health were braving cold weather to attend the rally. We took their presence as a measure of their devotion to the cause. On reflection, we can see how the note could be viewed as demeaning, although our intended message was the opposite.

Jan. 22 Pension contract initiative gets OK for petition circulation
Jan. 23 Pension reform crusader e-mails The State Worker

User reaction ranged from dismissal to distress over these two blog items about SoCal CPA Paul McCauley's efforts to change California's state employee pension system. A few supported his idea, if not his methods.

Your time for participating in sharing the economic pain is coming. ....spiking pensions is so naughty.....this guy may be a loon or Paul Revere....we will soon find out....he could end up being Tom Paine...motivate the producers to revolt against taxation, regulation, conflaguration (sic)....

This guy is a quack. So all we really need to get a ballot initiative is 700,000 signatures? Time to recall the governator

The proponent's proposition on pension reform and his other initiative on buying out oil companies are socialistic. It appears the proponent, a CPA, is touting his name for business using the guise of the initiative process for press coverage. I doubt it would pass and if it did would be unconstitutional. Just my opinion.

Jesus, what next? Where is our Union? Hello?

McCauley is a quack. His measure, even if enacted would be overturned by the court as unconstitutional.

Foil Hat Club. Keith Richman's proposal is the one to keep an eye on. http://californiapensionreform.com/

The URL in that last comment goes to The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, which backed the California Public Employee Benefits Initiative in 2007. The ballot measure sought to cap benefits for newly hired public employees at every state and local government level in California. The organization was unable to rise the money for a petition drive, which killed the initiative.

We contacted Marcia Fritz, the foundation's treasurer and vice president about whether the organization might revive it. "Nothing solid has happened yet, but we are still pursuing this," Fritz told us.

The California Highway Patrol swore in 178 new officers during graduation ceremonies on Friday at the CHP Academy in West Sacramento. The event culminated 27 weeks of training for the second-largest class to graduate in Academy history.

Click here to see the list of grads, their hometowns and where they've been assigned.

We spent an hour at today's chilly noon SEIU rally on the Capitol's south steps. It looked to us like well over a thousand state workers, some with their kids, showed up for the event despite the cold weather. Here's a little of what we jotted in our notebook:

Several people using walkers and wheelchairs. Shouldn't they be inside?

Signs:

Fix the budget NOW!!
My landlord doesn't take IOU's!
I care about our seniors!
Cuts hurt our kids!
Have a heart -- new revenue is a start

Chants:

"No more cuts!"
"Fired up, can't stand it no more!"
"Back to Hollywood!"

Yvonne Walker (president SEIU Local 1000) to the crowd: "The governor is into creating political theater, not political solutions!"

Eliseo Medina, executive vice president of SEIU International (when we asked what he would tell a discouraged state worker not at the rally): "Don't despair -- organize!"

rally speakers included:

• a retiree
• two union executives (Walker and Medina)
• a home care worker
• a hospital worker
• a children's social worker
• a case manager for the developmentally disabled
• a child care provider
• a college student

IMAGE: SEIU member Mariam Alvarez of Fresno holds a sign at the SEIU Rally against budget cuts for caregivers and student aid on Friday afternoon at Capitol.

Photo by Jose Luis Villegas, Sacramento Bee

Yesterday we blogged that Santa Monica CPA Paul McCauley has gained permission to collect petition signatures to qualify The McCauley Public Pension Reform Act, an initiative to constitutionally change public employee pension contracts.

If you're not familiar with that post, we highly recommend to read it for context before continuing here. Click here to check it out.

We've heard back from McCauley. First, our e-mail to him:

Hello Mr. McCauley:

I write a blog and a column for the Sacramento Bee that focuses on
state worker issues. I noticed that you have received permission to
circulate a petition for a ballot measure to change public employee
pension contracts.

I'd like to talk to you about this to get some background on the
proposal and what is motivating your drive. Do you have anyone backing
the petition drive? What strategies are you going to use to get this
before voters and get it passed?

... Look forward to hearing from you.

Jon

Now McCauley's unedited reply, posted here with his permission:

Hi Jon,

Thanx for the e-mail message. As I am hearing impaired, you and I
will have to correspond by e-mail. Sorry.

Let's see. In the first instance, I have not heard from the AG's
Office that I have the green light to circulate the petition. I will
soon, though.

To answer your questions:

1) I do not have financial or organizational support lined up just
yet. However, I might point out that approximately 32 million
Californians do not benefit from these public employee pension
programs. I also point out that state and local governments have hit
the wall, fiscally speaking. That is, while the public employees are
holding out for tax increases to pay these pensions, the tax increases
are unlikely to materialize. That leaves state and local governments
with a choice - cut pensions or cut service.

2) I am going to use the same strategy I used in 1981 when I and two
other persons organized the campaign to oust Rose Bird, Joseph Grodin
and Cruz Reynoso from the state supreme court. California is a very big
state but it can be politically organized. I have done so as have
others.

I mention the crossroads. The public employee pension issue is not
new. That public employee pensions exceed private sector pensions
twenty-fold to thirty-fold speaks for itself. As the economy tanks and
an increasing number of people lose their jobs, their homes, their 0D
401(k)'s etc., their sympathy for a public employee who believes that
he/she has an entitlement to retire on a $100,000 pension will wane. I
intend to catch the crest of a wave of public resentment and outrage-
justifiable resentment and outrage.

The LAO's Office says that $13 billion is set aside annually now for
public employee pensions in CA, and that that figure will grow. That
is, that figure will grow while the taxpayers' ability to pay shrinks.
The LAO report, I might add, makes no mention that most if not all
public employees also receive lifetime health insurance benefits, which
the Schwarzenegger administration has recently calculated to be a $118
billion unfunded liability.

Something must give. I point out that my measure simply lays a
foundation for what must follow. That is, my measure ALLOWS cuts but
doesn't mandate them. The hard work of renegotiating pensions will
begin after my measure becomes law.

Expect a lot of whining from the public employees.

Paul McCauley, CPA

PS: I've already received five complaints from "hard working" public
employees today. The one thing they all had in common was a total lack
of regard for hard working folks in the private sector.

10:25 a.m. addition to this post: You can read the LAO analysis of McCauley's initiative by clicking this link. Thanks to Jason Dickerson at the LAO for calling this to our attention.

The Board of Equalization sent a polite "thanks but no thanks" letter to DPA this afternoon stating that it won't furlough workers. The letter from Executive Director Ramon J. Hirsig says, in essence, that furloughing workers in his revenue-generating agency doesn't make financial sense for the state.

Read the BOE letter here.

The Bee is reporting that the Sacramento District Attorney's office won't file charges against Cynthia K. Thornton, a former member of the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board who was given a job as an administrative law judge by her peers.

Thorton's job situation came to light last summer when state Auditor Elaine Howle suggested the appointment may have breached state conflict-of-interest laws and reported it to the DA's office.

Bee reporter Andrew McIntosh's story explains the DA's rationale. You can read a more thorough explanation by clicking here for the nine-page letter that Principal Deputy District Attorney Don Steed sent this morning to the Bureau of State Audits.

The most interesting part of the letter for us is at the end, where Steed notes that four other former board members have received similar job deals between 1995 and 2005 and implies that there may be some civil legal action yet open to the state.

Andrew is working on a more expansive story for tomorrow's cyber and fiber Bee. Watch for it.

We spoke very briefly this afternoon to SEIU Local President Yvonne Walker shortly before she met with union negotiators preparing to reenter contract talks. Some excerpts of our telephone conversation:

So where are you?
I'm at negotiations Ground Zero, getting ready to meet with our bargaining team.

You sound upbeat.
I'm hoping that the state is ready to come forward and negotiate.

So what's changed?
Well, we've been trying to be part of the solution all along. But having the controller validate that furloughing isn't legal helps. Maybe now the administration is ready to sit down and have the hard conversation.

What's on the schedule?
We expect bargaining to go on through the weekend. We're hoping that they have the intestinal fortitude to keep on with negotiations.

And money will be part of the "hard conversation"?
It hasn't been so far, but it has to be (now).

What about furloughs?
That I don't know. Certainly you have to recognize it's not something we'd bring to the table, but we're not opposed to talking about it. People need to recognize that we're not just people who take from the general fund. We're taxpayers, too. We understand what's at stake.

So are you saying that holding the line in terms of pay would be considered a win, given the state's money troubles?
That would be good, wouldn't it?

What else do you think will come up in talks?
Everything is on the table. We can't come to a solution without everything being on the table.

IIMAGE: Yvonne Walker / Sacramento Bee

This report is moving on the Associated Press wire this afternoon. An earlier version we posted contained a quote from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman that the Associated Press has subsequently removed.

Governors seek concessions from public workers

By JULIE CARR SMYTH

AP Statehouse Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Governors across the nation are seeking significant concessions from public employee unions that they hope can help balance their teetering budgets during the economic downturn.

From Maryland to California, Ohio to Hawaii, governors have asked or ordered state workers to accept furloughs, salary reductions, truncated work weeks or benefits cuts. They say the concessions are a better alternative to more job losses in the face of record-breaking unemployment.

Unions argue their members shouldn't be singled out and are even more vital in hard times - securing neighborhoods and prisons, educating kids and providing social services to growing numbers of citizens.

In hard-hit Ohio, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has been a friend of the unions.

But as the state's budget woes have been magnified, he is asking unionized state employees to consider taking a 5-percent pay, shorten their work week to 35 hours, and eliminate paid personal days and holidays to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to an Ohio union memo obtained by The Associated Press, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is waiting to see Strickland's upcoming budget and the state's share of a federal stimulus package before making a decision. Executive director Andy Douglas declined comment because the union is in negotiations.

The memo said there's no guarantee accepting concessions will preclude later job cuts. The 5-percent across the board salary cut could save $163 million and is expected to be mentioned in Strickland's State of the State address next week.

Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland, another state facing an unexpectedly deep budget shortfall, imposed furloughs and salary cuts on thousands of state workers in December in a plan to save an estimated $34 million.

In November, New Jersey trimmed two paid holidays from state workers' annual allotment: Lincoln's Birthday and the Friday after Thanksgiving. Eliminating the former holiday required legislative action, and Gov. Jon Corzine was able to cut the latter on his own.

Utah eliminated one paid holiday a year and is testing out a four-day state work week.

Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle has raised the possibility she will pursue furloughs for the state's 36,000 employees and ask them to pay a larger share of their health insurance coverage and forego raises.

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell - facing down a widening budget gap - said layoffs and unpaid furloughs are likely in that state as well.

He braced state workers for sharing in the state's "universal pain."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed furloughs two days a month beginning in February as a way to curb costs for the state's 230,000-member state payroll amid a budget deficit projected to grow to $28 billion by 2010.

He has had less success shaving two paid holidays off the current 14 state workers receive, an allotment that is among the most generous in the U.S.

Spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor is "looking under every rock" to cut costs and believes it's a matter of fairness for state workers to do their part.

"The governor doesn't believe it's fair to increase taxes and cut programs on Californians without reducing state government spending first," he said.

Kerry Korpi, director of research and collective bargaining at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said members understand that governments are in economic crisis.

"The entire country is in a dire situation," she said. "Our members, though, haven't quite been lifted back up from the last fiscal crisis in 2002 and 2003, so we've been asking governors to sit down with us and let's look at all the spending, instead of going straight to the people who provide these vital services."

State workers be warned. Paul McCauley has taken aim on your pensions.

The Santa Monica CPA on Wednesday gained permission to collect petition signatures.to qualify The McCauley Public Pension Reform Act, an initiative that would change California's Constitution to allow public employee pension contracts to be renegotiated. He now has 150 days to collect 694,354 signatures to get the measure on a statewide ballot.

McCauley is into writing initiatives -- big time.

Last summer he drew up a plan called The McCauley-Rooker Wealth Tax and Oceans Preservation Act, which sought a massive tax hike that the state would use to buy a majority stake in oil companies, automakers and financial firms.

The state would also throw around its majority shareholder clout to influence the companies' environmental practices. Profits from those holdings would have gone to environmental preservation efforts. Another reason for the plan, according to official filings: "The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few is inconsistent with the tenets of a democratic society."

The San Diego Union-Tribune in this November op-ed called the proposal "absurd" and proof that the state initiative process needs serious reform.

Undaunted by critics, and the fact that he was going to miss the Jan. 2 petition signature deadline, McCauley resubmitted the measure, according to the Secretary of State's Web site, as The McCauley-Rooker Wealth Tax and Oceans Preservation Act - Version 2.

And McCauley has two other initiatives in the signature gathering phase. This one would extend term limits for legislators who don't take campaign contributions or accept "privately funded junkets."

Then there's The McCauley Legislative Reform Act, which changes the state Constitution to permit legislators who do not receive contributions or accept "privately-funded junkets" to remain in office and serve additional terms without election.

We're trying to contact McCauley about his pension plan and to get his assessment of the likelihood of getting the pension initiative before voters.

You can click here to read the Secretary of State's press release about McCauley's pension measure.

IMAGE: A voting machine demonstration / Sacramento Bee - Associated Press, 2007

From The Bee's Kevin Yamamura:

Democratic State Controller John Chiang said Wednesday he will refuse to reduce state worker pay as demanded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, possibly sparing more than 200,000 public employees from furloughs and pay cuts.

The move by Chiang, who is responsible for issuing state payroll, could require the Republican governor to obtain a court order to implement his twice monthly furlough plan.

Chiang filed documents Tuesday afternoon in Sacramento Superior Court arguing that the governor's plan is illegal.

"California law is clear that only the Legislature has ultimate authority over setting state employee salaries," Chiang said. "While I agree with the Governor that State employees - like all Californians - must tighten their belts, it must be done so in a manner that is consistent with the rule of law."

You can read Chiang's court filing here and the SCO's press release by clicking here.

Check back here for more from The Bee on this developing story.

SEIU Local 1000 and state worker Terry Lawhead have filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education, alleging that the state overuses outside consultants called "visiting educators."

The suit claims that the CDE consultants are taking work that should be assigned to state employees.

From the court documents filed in state Superior Court in Sacramento:

... CDE has created, authorized and utilized education programs consultant services in lieu of recruiting and retaining state civil service education programs consultants performed by employees under the civil service system. These acts and omissions are in violation of the constitutional merit principle, avoid the scrutiny of any system of review for compliance with the merit principle, avoid utilizing the civil service system of merit appointment. These acts and omissions are in violation of the statutory and regulatory scheme for the permissive use of Visiting Educators.

You can read the entire 14-page court filing here.

We've just filed a brief piece for online about Joseph Dear, CalPERS' new chief investment officer. Our Biz Department colleague Dale Kasler is working up a larger story for tomorrow.

In the meantime, you can click here for a (5-year-old) bio on the new CIO and go here for the CalPERS press release.

Bargaining Unit 4 labor contract negotiators say that they have reached tentative deals on several issues that don't involve money. Still, resolution of one issue -- reclassifying jobs of DMV workers and others they represent -- remains elusive.

"We've set out our priorities and they are all classification related," Unit 4 Chair Larry Perkins said in a release. "I'm perturbed that the state wants us to sacrifice because of the budget crisis but they are unwilling to move on non-economic issues that are very important to our members."

Job reclassification has been an emotional issue for many state workers, particularly those in BU 4, which represents clerical and support staff across many departments. Many of those workers are women and minority employees at the lower end of the state wage scale. Reclassification, the union says, could open a career path for them.
Click here to read SEIU's statement about BU 4 talks.

Some odds and ends we want to bring to your attention as we clear our e-mail and phone messages after 11 days of vacation:

Here's an interesting paragraph from President Barack Obama's speech today, especially when considered against the backdrop of the state's ongoing budget drama and the debate over furloughs and layoffs proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger:

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

What do you think Obama would say specifically to California state workers now facing furloughs?

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SEIU Local 1000 and the state engaged in contract talks through the weekend, but, the union said,

State negotiators rejected Local 1000's entire package proposal in negotiations on Saturday, upping their demands for concessions to $760 million--the amount they say would be saved by the governor's two day per month furlough order, rather than the one day per month they previously had demanded.

Go here to read the rest of Local 1000's report on the talks.

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We've heard from state workers that some departments and agencies have already issued two February work schedules -- one that includes furloughs and one that doesn't.

But Department of Personnel Administration spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley said that it's too soon to issue any more details than those outlined in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Executive Order, DPA Director Dave Gilb's furlough memo and the Q&A on DPA's Web site.

"We're still meeting with the unions on the impact of the furloughs," Jolley said. "We want to keep an open mind about what can come of those discussions before we finalize the (furlough) details."

IMAGE: President Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office / Sacramento Bee

President Barack Obama today called for, among other things, an improved federal government with more openness and effectiveness. After watching the speech, we turned to our e-mail and were reminded that changing a massive bureaucracy is extremely hard to do.

The Bureau of State Audits has released its "Recommendations Not Fully Implemented After One Year" report. The tally: 63 recommendations made to 17 state agencies that are at least 1 year old but haven't yet been implemented -- 40 of them are carryovers from the bureau's January 2008 report.

Click here to read the summary and go to this link to look at the entire report (a table summarizing the audit runs on pages 3 through 7).

Give us your thoughts about the report. Are the observations valid? Are there carrots and sticks that the state should employ to spur change? How much of this is a matter of simply not having sufficient resources to keep things running AND make changes?

Side note: Many, many thanks to our Biz Department buddy Andrew McIntosh and Political Editor Amy Chance for filling in while we were on vacation. Their terrific work makes us think we should take more time off more often ...

From Peter Hecht of The Bee's Capitol Bureau....

Four state agencies may soon become one under a proposal advanced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday.

The governor is vowing to save the state $1.5 billion by consolidating state information technology divisions. His reorganization plan would integrate four agencies - the Office of the State Chief Information Officer, the Office of Information Security and Privacy Protection, the Department of Technology Services and the telecommunications division of the Department of General Services.

In a statement Friday, Schwarzenegger said the plan could create savings by consolidating computer software contracts, networking and data centers. "At a time when California families and businesses are cutting back and tightening their belts state government must do the same. We have a responsibility to ensure governoment is working efficiently with taxpayer dollars," the governor said.

The governor's plan is being submitted to the state's Little Hoover Commission for review. The commission will have 60 days to submit recommendations to the Legislature on the proposal.

 

California's top financial leaders voted Friday to free up $650 million so that state can start paying some of its bills for work already performed.

Members of the California Pooled Money Investment Board, including Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Department of Finance Director Michael Genest, voted to open the  financial taps after several contractors told a packed meeting about their unpaid bill woes.

The board authorized the Department of Finance to spend the money  based on which disbursements are "the highest priority and best interests of the  state."

That probably means CalTrans, where vendors are owed a staggering $102.9 million.

The news was not so good for those of you who administer state grant programs. Expect more calls from desperate non-profits looking for money on grant work already done.

At the meeting, Lockyer  warned non-profit  groups that they are unlikely to see any state grant money before spring or summer at the earliest, due to the budget impasse and problems in the credit markets that have slowed state bond issues to a trickle.

An investment board staff report shows that the state now has $2.6 billion worth of bills to pay for work already performed under oodles of state grant programs administered by its departments, agencies and commissions.

If you want to see what individual departments or agencies owe in terms of unpaid contracts and grants, pop this  this document  and go to the last page for a detailed list.

California law requires many governmental employees, board members and elected officials to fill out a form once a year to disclose their economic interests.

It's called the Form 700.

Form 700s exist for two reasons.
 
They remind those who fill them out of their personal economic interests and how they might be affected by a governmental decision.

They enlighten both the citizenry and the ever-inquiring media.
 
It amazes me how many state and other public workers actually fail to get these simple forms filled out and delivered on time. 

If you don't do it, the omission can cost you several hundred dollars in fines if the Fair Political Practices Commission finds you out.

Just this week,  the FPPC forms police handed out the following fines to people who missed Form 700 deadlines. 

Do state and public workers really have this kind of money to flush?  I suspect not.

Here are a few on that list:

Manuel Porto, Dean, College of Health Sciences for the University of California, Irvine, failed to timely file an assuming office statement of economic interests.  $100 fine.
 
Robert Watrous, Registered Nursing Board member, California Department of Consumer Affairs, failed to timely file a 2006 statement of economic interests.  $400 fine.
 
T.R. Hathaway, Staff Toxicologist with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, failed to timely file a 2007 annual statement of economic interests.  $400 fine.

Peter Manzo, Superintendent of Schools, Los Angeles Education Core Charter Schools, failed to timely file a 2007 annual statement of economic interests.  $200 fine.

Fred Naranjo, Member of the California Optometry Board, failed to timely file a 2007 annual statement of economic interests.  $200 fine.

Fill out the forms, people, or it will cost you real after-tax moula.

The California Public Employees Retirement System is taking a wait and see attitude toward the Governor's plan to furlough workers and cut their pay 10 percent.

CalPERS spokeswoman Pat Macht said the giant public sector pension fund has yet to decide if some or any of its staff will be sent home two days a month as the governor ordered last month.

State departments may exempt critical operations from the furlough effort.

CalPERS is drawing up a list of its own member services that officials think should be exempt and sending it over to the Department of Personnel Administration.

The  fund operates its own trading desk.  It is unlikely to want to scale it back, much less close it two days a month, amid such choppy financial markets.

Macht said CalPERS senior management wants to consult its own board members  on the issue next week. The fund is governed by its 13-member board of administration.

The fund also will be watching the outcome of legal challenges that several state worker unions launched to stop the furloughs.

The unions will argue their cases in Sacramento County Superior Court Jan. 29.

The furloughs are slated to begin Friday, Feb. 6.

"Furlough Arnold!," they chanted. "Impeach Arnold!"

"The state of the state is a mess!" they added.

They needed a bit of egging on, but a couple of hundred members and organizers of the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, protested outside the Capitol at noon today after the governor's morning state of the state address.

Lots of colorful purple SEIU T-shirts to go with the purple prose chants and signs.

There was some TV coverage.

Lots of warm sunshine. Free brown bag lunches and sodas for all.

It was over in about 30 minutes, but heard inside the Legislature, I'm told.

Similar protests also took place today in the Bay area, Fresno, San Diego and Los Angeles, SEIU spokesman Jim Zamora said.

Vignettes of the Sacramento protest are below.

After The State Worker wondered aloud Wednesday whether the SEIU wasn't trying to low-blow the Governor in the ongoing furlough battle, some gentle readers smelled a rat.

I wrote about a contract that the Department of Personnel Administration awarded to a Sacramento law firm to help the governor and his administration fight off legal challenges to his unpopular  furlough and pay cut plan for state workers.

SEIU suggested that the Governor had breached his own executive order by contracting out the legal work to the Sacramento firm Kronick Moskovitz after Dec. 30.

A DPA spokeswoman denied it, saying the contract was handed out in November.

A skeptical reader using the moniker 'Dishpanhands' had a great idea:

"Bee, did you actually see a copy of the signed and dated contract? If not, please make a CA Public Records Info request and check this out. The Governor seems to be all about Talk and not Walk the Talk! Very disappointing," Dishpan wrote.

Well, Dishpan, we made the records request and secured the contract.

Now, you can't say that this blog is all wet.  See it here: kronick contract.pdf

The document shows that the law firm signed the $50,000 contract Dec. 13.

DPA's chief deputy director, Debbie Endsley, signed Dec. 30.

Other DPA bosses signed in the first week of January, though it was retroactive from Nov. 1.

The contract runs through June 30, 2009.

The powerful union representing 30,000 correctional peace officers statewide has joined the  battle to torpedo Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough and 10 percent pay cut plan.

Three San Francisco lawyers for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association have filed their own case against the state, the governor and the Department of Personnel Administration in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Lawyers Gregg Adam, Jonathan Yank and Jennifer Stoughton say in court documents filed earlier this week that the furlough and pay cut moves are illegal, unconstitutional and must be stopped by the court.

The union says its members pay cannot be cut without prior approval of the legislature and that has not occurred.

The union's complaint likely will be steered to the desk of Judge Patrick Marlette.

Marlette is already hearing similar cases filed by the state engineers and scientists and the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, later this month.

Read the California Correctional Peace Officers' Association legal complaint here.

The allegation made by the Service Employees International Union, Local 1000, was tantalizing, to say the least, even if it was nowhere in its own court filings.

Had Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger deliberately flouted his own Dec. 19 executive order by hiring expensive private sector lawyers to defend lawsuits that state worker unions launched to kill his administration's furlough and pay cut plan?

An SEIU representative suggested that the hiring of David Tyra and two peers from the pricey Sacramento law firm of Kronick, Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard did exactly that.

The hire, the union alleged, breached this section of the Governator's executive order:

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that effective January 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010, all State agencies and departments under my direct executive authority, regardless of funding source, are prohibited from entering into any new personal services or consulting contracts to perform work as a result of the furloughs, layoffs or other position reduction measures implemented as a result of this Order. 

The unions filed lawsuits on Dec. 22 and thought they had the administration cold;  who can hire a top gun like Tyra between Christmas and New Year's when the state is closed.

Wrong, totally wrong, says Lynelle Jolley of the Department of Personnel Administration.

The state contract with Kronick, Moskovitz was signed Nov. 1, 2008, she said. 

Because there was much talk during the fall about the bad budget, union contracts and compensation issues, the department's legal unit anticipated some legal nastiness.

The unit put the contract in place in advance in case it needed extra firepower, Jolley said.

Everyone is hoping they'll never actually be needed.

But in case state Controller John Chiang really does run out of cash and the state is forced to issue IOUs - it calls them  "registered warrants" -  to pay state workers and vendors, his office has created a special working group to get ready.

Chiang warned of a looming state cash shortage in December, telling state departments to prepare for the worst.  He's doing exactly that himself.

The controller has joined several financial industry groups representing credit unions and major and independent banks. Together, they're working to identify and work out any issues or problems that might be anticipated with floating IOUs  before they start circulating, Chiang spokesman Jacob Roper told The State Worker.

"That includes a very serious look at security measures," Roper added.

Beth Mills, a spokeswoman for the California Bankers Association, told The State Worker individual banks haven't decided yet whether they will accept the state IOU's or not.

Mills said the working group met privately with Chiang's staff last week and the bankers had many questions that required "technical clarifications."

"It's not as easy as the state issuing a warrant and a person takes it into a bank and cashing it," Mills said. "We need to know more about how many warrants we're talking about, the volume, and how much money is involved."

Mills said CBA is hoping for answers this week.  Roper said conversations are ongoing.
 

The State Personnel Board has a handy-dandy Web tool for anyone looking for a state job anywhere in California.

It's called Geo Search, and you can see it right here.

The site displays open jobs by county statewide. I was curious: is the state hiring in these tough times?

I thought there would be no vacancies and no hiring, given that the state is running out of cash and eyeballing a stinker of a $45 billion budget deficit.

 So wrong.

In Sacramento County, there are 1,600 state jobs open, many of the advertisements for them including a declaration that the position is exempt from the state hiring freeze. 

Yes, that was 1-6-0-0.

Ditto for Los Angeles (181 open jobs), Fresno (83 open jobs), Napa (78 open jobs) Solano (62 open jobs), Yolo (49 open jobs) and San Francisco ( 44 open jobs).

Sutter, Yuba, Placer and Eldorado counties show postings for another 22 vacant jobs.

How can this be?.

Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration, thinks that some of those jobs probably won't be filled.

Some agencies are loathe to take down their job advertisements because they want to build a file of resumes they can tap when the economy and state's finances improve, she said.

Like any other workplace, though, there are defections to other agencies and state worker departures to private sector or other jobs. 

 There are retirements, too, though the 401K declines that some state workers saw in their accounts during 2008 have put a lot of those plans on hold, Jolley added.
.
"Even during furloughs and layoffs, there are certain jobs that you have to fill," Jolley said. "Consider what you would do if six people in your ten-person shop either leave or retire?"

The Governor and Department of Finance have made it clear in their marching orders that departments and agencies may still hire, Jolley said, but noted there's a big caveat.

The departments and agencies must meet budget reduction targets and promise not to come back later to plead for more money because they've blown the budget. 

If you have a teenager or college-age student, you may know where this is going. . .

Sometimes, the efforts of a few stand out as a shining example in hard times.

Workers at the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, a department with about 310 state employees, have collectively answered the call of depleted food banks statewide even as their own pay checks are set to shrink 10 percent next month.

DAPD workers have so far donated more than 8,000 pounds of food and cash to the State Employees Food Drive.

That's more than 25 pounds per employee, compared to last year's statewide average of about 3 pounds per worker, the department's Morgan Staines told The State Worker.

Staines, the department's chief counsel and food drive leader, said many DADP staffers have personally experienced hard times over the years and understand needs are great.

"We're all closer to the edge right now than we would like," Staines said.

The state employee food drive continues through Jan. 16.

The Department of Food and Agriculture, despite its own incredible workload, coordinates the statewide effort in partnership with California Emergency Foodlink.  The Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs leads the state's drug prevention, treatment and recovery efforts. 

The Association of California State Supervisors wants the Legislature to launch impeachment proceedings against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"We want to go on record as supporting immediate impeachment of the governor," association President Olin King said in a news release after its board backed the move at a weekend meeting.

"His inability to pass a budget is placing California in financial jeopardy, and his order to furlough state workers, to place the burden of balancing the budget on our backs, is an act of malfeasance," King added.

The association represents state managers, supervisors, and exempt and confidential employees.

The furlough on the first and third Fridays of every month will cut state worker pay by nearly 10 percent. They may also lose two paid holidays under Schwarzenegger's plan to shave the budget deficit.

King said the painful pay cuts come as some state workers already begin to see lower paychecks this month after their benefit deductions increased.

The group said the governor was "mean-spirited" and "arbitrary" in cutting employees' salaries, given their responsibilities and the services they provide.

On Wednesday, ACSS members will join all state workers at rallies across the state to protest the stalled budget talks. The Sacramento rally starts at 11 a.m. at the south side of the Capitol.

Read the association's own blog on this issue here.

An employee of the Department of Insurance who opened a package on Capitol Mall this morning came into contact with an unknown substance and became sick.

The unidentified woman was taken to a local hospital by her supervisor, Sacramento City Fire Department spokesman Mike Doucette said.

The room where she opened the package was closed and the surrounding area was evacuated.

Sacramento Fire Hazardous Materials personnel subsequently entered the room and removed the package for testing.

Tests failed to identify a toxic or hazardous substance, Doucette said, but two California Highway Patrol Officers who touched the package were also taken to hospital as a precaution.

If it skates like a Duck and hits like an Angel, should taxpayers pay for it?

Apparently not, according to the scorching audit of $2 million in questionable spending by the state avocado commission that surfaced late last week.

One of the more intriguing nuggets uncovered by California Department of Food and Agriculture auditors is a whopping $123,227 the commission spent on season's tickets for the Anaheim Ducks NHL hockey games and Los Angeles Angeles baseball games between 2005 and 2008.  

That tidy sum didn't include food or beverages, either. No word on how much that cost.

Auditors found the bills for tickets - and in the Ducks' case, playoff tickets - were tucked away in a commission ledger called "merchandising, retail performance programs."

The way it was recorded on commission books "was not clearly transparent," auditors reported, adding it was unclear if the commission's oversight board knew about the tickets.

When auditors looked at who was using the tickets and if it was for business, they found internal logs showing 40 percent of Duck tickets went to the commission's own employees and 15 percent of Angels tickets also went to employees.

Another 21 percent of Angels tickets reportedly went unused.

The logs said nothing about what avocado industry business was discussed at hockey and baseball games - or who it was discussed with.

Employees who enjoyed the tickets did not reimburse the commission for them, the auditors added, concluding the expenses "were not in the best interests of the state."

Auditors have recommended that unidentified state employees who used any tickets be required to repay the money if they were used solely for personal purposes.

The Ducks were a hot and hard to get ticket in Southland in 2006-2007, when the team won hockey's Stanley Cup Championship and it made the playoffs again last year.

Former commission president Mark Affleck, who resigned in 2008, is a big ice hockey fan who still plays competitively, according to his biography on his church's web site. 

The audit has been turned over to Attorney General Jerry Brown's Office for further investigation of "possible financial improprieties."

The commission says it's adopted new spending controls to stop such abuses in the future.

Have a look at the audit here.

The Oregon-based Service Employees International Union, Local 503, is vowing its membership will resist Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's two-year budget plan.

Kulongoski's proposed budget calls for his state workers to take eight furlough days --one each quarter -- as part of the state's two-year budget.

The unpaid days off represent a 1.5 percent pay cut for Oregon's state workers.

Kulongoski's budget includes no extra money for cost-of-living wage increases, either.

The SEIU is the largest state worker union in Oregon. Its president there, Linda Burgin told The Salem Statesman Journal: "We will resist all efforts for the state to balance its budget on our backs. We don't think furloughs are the way to solve our problem."

Not all state workers up North oppose his plan.

The state's second largest union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is not opposing the furloughs, The Oregonian reports, noting that Ken Allen, Oregon boss of the AFSCME, prefers furloughs to additional layoffs.

Read up on the Oregon situation here and here.

Another California constitutional officer, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, has joined the state attorney general and treasurer in refusing to adopt state worker furloughs next month.

In a terse statement his office just released, Garamendi stated: "We have already cut the Lieutenant Governor's budget by 10 percent this year and we will cut another 10 percent this year. We are public servants for the people of California so we will not be furloughing our staff."

Garamendi's operation has a staff of 20 and -- believe it or not -- three offices (in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento), spokeswoman Beth Willon said.

The Attorney General's office has "declined" to implement the two-day-a-month furlough program that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled Friday.

Instead, the attorney general will implement "alternative measures" to cut costs and spending, including a ban on discretionary travel, conferences and training,  according to an internal memo issued from chief deputy attorney general James M. Humes.

Humes said that as a "separate constitutional office," the AG decided it will ignore the Governor's take-two-days-off-a-month approach and implement its own expense reduction plan to meet the same fiscal targets "without furloughing or laying off employees."
 
"These alternative measures will allow us to achieve our budgetary targets in a more constructive way that will better promote the state's interests," Humes added.

The plan, which Humes conceded "will impose yet additional burdens" on his office after it already suffered a $51 million budget cut just last year, includes these elements:
  
1.  Employees may and are encouraged to voluntarily participate in the Governor's furlough plan when it becomes effective.
 
2.   A clamp down on hiring, which includes the following terms:
 
  -  All formal job offers made and accepted before Friday will be honored.
 
   - Vacancies can be filled only if filling the position is critical and it is approved by the division head and Humes.
 
3. All deals under $25,000 must be reviewed and approved by the budget office, except contracts for expert witnesses and contracts for outside counsel.

 
4.  Purchase orders for deals exceeding $5,000 must be reviewed and approved by the budget office before a purchase is made.
 
5.  Service authorization requests for more than $1,000 must be reviewed and approved by the budget office before obtaining the service.
 
6.  All discretionary travel and conferences, and external training will be denied.
 
7.  Discretionary overtime is prohibited for employees eligible to earn it.  All "mission critical" overtime may be approved by the employee's division head or their designee.  Time off in lieu of cash will be used whenever possible.

Your humble State Worker blogger is on vacation until Jan. 20.

In the mean time, our talented (and very busy) colleagues at The Bee Capitol Bureau and our Biz Department colleague Andrew McIntosh will keep an eye on things and feed this site as appropriate. And don't forget to check our sister blog, Capitol Alert, for info and updates on the budget.

See you back here on Jan. 20.

- Jon

Click here to read the memo DPA director David Gilb sent to agencies today announcing the decision  to close state offices on the first and third Fridays of every month beginning Feb. 6. Read Kevin Yamamura's story here.

How many lawyers does it take the state and the Schwarzenegger administration to fight a legal challenge by state worker unions opposing the Governor's plan to furlough them for two days a month and cut their pay 10 percent?

Seven, court documents suggest.

A single attorney - Gerald James - is listed as working the case for the combined 16,000 members of the Professional Engineers and Professional Scientists unions.

He's up against a total of seven state and private sector lawyers either working for or hired by and working for the state, court filings show.

The list of James' opponents takes up a half a page of court document real estate alone, including lead lawyer David Tyra and two colleagues with the Sacramento-based Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard law firm.  The other attorneys are Laura Izon Powell and Kristianne T. Seargent           

Tyra's joined by and four state lawyers of record on the case, including chief counsel K. William Curtis, Warren C. Stracener, Linda A. Mayhew and Will M. Yamada, of the Department of personnel Administration.

We told you a few days ago that the folks at the State Information Officers Council had invited us to attend their January brown bag lunch meeting. After our post, a user e-mailed concern / caution that we would be devoured by a group of ravenous "flacks" for the state spoiling for a fight with a member of the media.

Our response: Ridiculous.

On Thursday we spoke to 45 or so SiOC members in a the Bateson Building at 1600 9th St. in Sacramento. Our topic: "How the news becomes the news ... and how you can exploit it."

We're pleased to report to that concerned State Worker user that the biggest fight of the day was between our PowerPointed computer and a stubborn projector that refused to work (until Bee Digital Media Chief Blaine Wasylkiw showed us what buttons to push to resolve the dispute).

The SiOC group was terrific. Over the course of a bit more than an hour, we had some laughs and talked about the challenges confronting all of us in the public information business as we find our way through the technological revolution. It was an honest, straightforward and entertaining discussion.

We also were delighted that some journalism students from alma mater Sac State dropped in and asked a few questions.

Our thanks to SiOC for the privilege of speaking to the group. Let's do it again some time.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec. 30 The State Worker Year in Review: State worker wars

We asked users to add to our list. Here's what you suggested:

RE: taking sides. You forgot State workers versus Contractors. It's Schwarzenegger's ambition to implement Halliburton style outsourcing in California.

So, Jon, I think you need to add one more category: the reality of state employment vs the public perception of state workers.

Please add: Sacramento Bee v. State Workers. This happened when the Bee put up the State Worker salary database for crooks, stalkers, snoops and Bee profit under the guise that this information help flush out waste in government. I am STILL waiting on how this information helps identify government waste. All I see is the Bee making mad profits off of the backs of State Workers.

We covered that last one on our list, but we're OK with underscoring it by blogging back the comment.

Three quick bits of salary database info: (1) The Bee isn't making "mad profits" from the pay database or anything else online. The Internet accounts for about 10 percent to 15 percent of McClatchy revenue. (2) Bee data analyst Phillip Reese tells us that state workers themselves continue to keep the database popular. (3) The Bee plans to update the database with new SCO numbers soon.

Dec. 31 2009-10 budget: Impact on state workers; CPR revived

Looks like Dr. Schwarzenegger has scheduled a minor liposuction for a patient requiring a quadruple bypass.

Jan. 5 Cal-EPA set to close on first and third Fridays

Jan. 5 Cal-EPA furlough days not set, says spokeswoman

SacBee- credibility is an important thing. BreAnda Northcutt is a PIO for CalEPA and not DPA. Lynelle Jolley is the PIO for DPA. If you can't keep the story straight you shouldn't print it. What other errors might there be in this story?

Ouch. An inexcusable blunder. We made a strike-through correction on the blog so that users could see the error to which this comment referred but also get the correct agency reference. We appreciate sharp-eyed users pointing things like this out. Wish we could say it won't happen again, but we know ourselves too well.

Jan. 5 State attorneys file furlough lawsuit

Um.. Hey Jon, what story? Where is it? Do you really want us to comment on a title to a story? Well.. Ok

Some blog posts, like this one, are little more than one or two sentences with links to other material such as court documents, letters, press releases or news stories. Some posts are short riffs on a subject. Others are longer and closer to a traditional news story.

We're interested in what others think about this: Does our mix of posts serve you well? Are you looking for more analysis? Less? Do you have suggestions for new features or topics you'd like to see in The State Worker blog?

Jan. 6 SEIU offers furlough alternatives

Does anyone believe that this is going to save 100+ million dollars?

#1 might save some money compared to no furloughs, but not nearly as much as the forced furloughs.

#2 Can save money if no one is hired to replace the hired workers, but it will probably increase the states contribution to CalPERS to make up for the increased retirement payments.

#3 would probably increase state costs as they could not even shut down the buildings to save heat when everyone has the same day off.

#4 If employee health care contributions are frozen, then the state would have to make up the difference if premiums go up. They would save money if premiums go down, but what are the chances of that!

I am embarassed to be part of a union that publishes such trash. At least when the administration lies, they make an attempt to make it believable.

A voluntary program to reduce one's pay is not likely to garner many participants, IMHO.

The golden handshake (adding 2yrs to elig. retirees) is a common practice in corporate America, but as we're already short-staffed generally speaking, this will increase workloads and diminish institutional knowledge.

The two holidays are neat switcheroo for the life of the contract. They come back after it expires but it allows the state to defer those non-work days a bit.

Freezing health care contributions is a small ask for the employees but it is something as we will see our paychecks shrink with this year's increase in health costs.

I don't see this as a proposal the state will jump at but it does show that we're willing to negotiate. This isn't "playing dead". It gives up practically nothing. OK, it doesn't gain us much either.

We read the SEIU list and assumed it was intended as a starting point for negotiations.

Jan. 6 State hires firm for furlough lawsuits

How can the "State" hire attornies (sic) when the State's own attornies (sic) (who already represent the "State") have filed a lawsuit stating the furloughs are not legal! Who actually hired these attornies anyway? Who is paying for these attornies? I thought the "State" had no money to pay anyone that it already owes! Since it is the "Governator's" idea, why shouldn't he have to pay for them himself? Why should the taxpayers pay for all this phoney budget nonsense!

cn708652, most likely outside attorneys are necessary because the state attorneys also have a separate lawsuit as they are included in the furloughs.

DPA's attorneys, like all DPA staff, are not members of a union and are excluded from bargaining. They are not members of CASE, the attorney and judges union that is suing the governor.

IMAGE: hasslefreeclipart.com

From its headquarters' design to its garbage, the Franchise Tax Board has been one of the state's leaders in environmentally friendly business practices. This notice from FTB's Brenda Voet underscores that fact by listing the findings of a team that plunged into nearly a half-ton of bureau trash to ferret out recyclables. This was all they could find:

• 30 pounds (12 bags) of Styrofoam.


• 11 pounds of cans and metals.


• 45 pounds of plastics.


• 58 pounds of paper.


• 13 pounds of glass.


• 41 pounds of cardboard.


• 4 AA batteries.

Read the FTB announcement by

clicking here

We've been watching local pension developments around the state for several months as a check on the public's mood about civil service benefits.

Now comes Fullerton's city council, which this week voted against a contract to increase most government workers' pensions by 25 percent, retroactive to the employee's hire date. The council had approved the new deal in a closed door session, according to the Orange County Register, but then backed away from it when one council member made the pension increase public.

Retiring Fullerton employees get up to 60 percent of their final year's pay; the new plan would have boosted that to 75 percent of final year's pay and counted all years of service in the formula.

You can read the OC Register's editorial about the council's reversal here.

We keep wondering, given moves by local governments up and down the state, is this the latest brush fire in a coming conflagration that could touch state pensions?

Judge Patrick Marlette will hear a furlough lawsuit by state engineers and state scientists on Friday at 9 a.m. in Sacramento County Superior Court Department 19. There had been some doubt about whether the hearing would be delayed after the Schwarzenegger administration successfully argued that Judge Lloyd Connelly, who was scheduled to hear the case, couldn't give the case a fair hearing.

Attorneys for the California Association of Professional Scientists and the Professional Engineers in California Government will ask the court to set the matter for a hearing on the merits before the furloughs ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger start on Feb. 1.

The lawsuit argues that Schwarzenegger doesn't have the authority to furlough workers without legislative approval.

Add SEIU Local 1000 to the list of unions suing to keep Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from furloughing state workers. The union has also filed a complaint with PERB.

Click here to read the SEIU lawsuit.

Want to see other actions against Schwarzenegger's executive order? Click here for the list.

Friday's court date for the furlough lawsuit brought by California Association of Professional Scientists and Professional Engineers in California Government could be delayed after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Department of Personnel Administration successfully challenged Judge Lloyd Connelly's qualifications to hear the case in Sacramento Superior Court.

The case now goes to Judge Patrick Marlette, who may not have room on his calendar to hear the matter on Friday at 9 a.m.

Attorney David W.Tyra, of Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, the firm representing the governor and DPA, successfully argued that Connelly, a former Democratic lawmaker, "is prejudiced against the interests of the Respondents. Accordingly, I believe Respondents cannot receive a fair and impartial trail or hearing before Judge Connelly."

We reached Bruce Blanning, PECG executive director, this evening. His response: "Our experience is that Judge Connelly is highly qualified."

Click here to read the Tyra filing.

Read the one-page dismissal order by clicking this link.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said this morning that Democrats are willing to make the permanent reductions to state employee benefits in law Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking as long as the administration and unions negotiate "in good faith" for 30 days first.

Speaking to The Bee Capitol Bureau the day after budget talks with Schwarzenegger broke down, the Sacramento Democrat said the administration must negotiate with the unions before imposing furloughs or asking lawmakers to make permanent changes to employees' benefits. The governor issued an executive order to furlough state employees two days a month for 17 months and wants lawmakers to permanently eliminate two paid holidays and change holiday overtime rules for state workers

Steinberg noted that state employee contracts have expired .... and said "there has not been any effort by the administration to negotiate successor contracts."

While he acknowledged "the state has nothing to give because of the financial situation," he said it makes sense for the administration to consult with employee unions because they may have other ideas about how to save money.

"It's reasonable to sit down for 30 days and at least consider the views" of worker representatives, he said.

And if those talks were conducted in good faith but failed to produce agreement, lawmakers would support the permanent changes the governor seeks, Steinberg said.

He said lawmakers have an interest in finding savings in the state workforce because if they don't, "that's going to mean deeper cuts to health and human services or some other area." 

Here's an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Daily News by Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal. The punchline:

So next time someone blames Proposition 13 for the problems of struggling governments, that person is using the wrong "p" word.

The correct word is "pensions."

Click here to read the entire piece.

Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard will represent the state in pending lawsuits over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order.

DPA spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley confirmed the hire this afternoon. She couldn't reach anyone in the department to explain the decision to go outside in this instance, but said that such hirings aren't unusual. "Sometimes it's related to workload, other times for the added expertise," she said.

Here's who we know has filed actions in court or with PERB. Click each item for more details and links to documents.

Service Employees International Union Local 1000

California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment

California Association of Professional Scientists and Professional Engineers in California Government

CAPS and PECG go to court on Friday. Their attorneys plan to push for a Jan. 30 hearing on the merits of their case. The governor's furlough order takes effect Feb. 1.

Contract talks resumed today. SEIU Local 1000 offered up several suggestions it says will "save the state hundreds of millions without mandatory furloughs."

The proposals:

1. A voluntary reduced work week program of 5 percent, 10 percent or 20 percent.
2. A golden handshake for state workers willing to take early retirement.
3. Converting two state holidays - Lincoln's Birthday and Columbus Day - for two additional personal leave days.
4. Freezing employee health care contributions at 2008 levels.

Read the SEIU statement issued late today by clicking here.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec. 29 State worker furloughs: The easy way out?

Since the Bee is suffering from poor circulation and over (sic) buying of other newspapers maybe there should be a 10% cut at the Bee. Of course it isn't the employees fault nevertheless you should take the cut anyway.

The McClatchy Co. has made numerous cuts, including 20 percent of its workforce, in response to the precipitous decline in newspaper advertising revenue and the debt it incurred purchasing the Knight Ridder chain. Read this story by Bee biz department colleague Dale Kasler for more details.

We'll leave it to others to thoughtfully draw similarities and differences between the state of The Bee and the state's financial mess, as did J.J. Jelincic in this Sunday op-ed piece.

I'd like to know just why the Bee believes that it is fair and equitable for state employees to have to take an extra 10 percent cut in pay in addition to the financial pain that they will experience as taxpayers. The state's current budget mess is undeniably a result of the governor and legislature's failure to produce real balanced state budgets over the last 5 years. State employees have no responsibility for or control over the state budget process. Just why then should they be penalized by having to accept a larger share of the burden than other taxpayers? Because it's easy? That's BS. I'd sure appreciate a response to my question?

Here are sections from two Bee editorials that lay out the editorial board's rationale for supporting furloughs. Click on each section to read the entire editorial.

Editorial: Crisis demands action on several fronts

For their part, Democrats are stubbornly opposed to any cuts in the state work force, which does little to bring their GOP counterparts to the table. Where Schwarzenegger hopes to save $263 million this year and $451 million next year by requiring one-day-a-month furloughs for state workers, leading Democrats are claiming that furloughs should be done only through the collective bargaining process.

That's bunk. In this type of emergency, lawmakers and the governor have the authority to enact furloughs, and they need to do it immediately to realize savings in the current fiscal year. Failure to do so could prompt the governor to consider layoffs of state employees. Intransigence by Democrats will also make it harder for Republicans to give on tax hikes, leading the Golden State closer to the brink.

Editorial: Democrats can share budget blame

So far, Democrats have failed to make even the most reasonable of concessions to save California from insolvency.

Consider the topic of state employee furloughs. To save $263 million this year and $451 million next year, the governor last month proposed that nearly all state employees take a one-day furlough each month.

He also proposed eliminating two of the 13 state holidays that state employees receive as well as the premium pay they get for working other holidays. That would save nearly $40 million this year and $74 million next year.

Democrats, however, are balking at the furloughs, a further sign of how beholden they are to public employee unions. By taking this stand, Democrats will likely force Schwarzenegger to order a less desirable alternative - mass layoffs.

Such layoffs would be far more damaging to individual families and Sacramento's economy than the shared sacrifice of furloughs. But the governor has to find ways to reduce payroll costs with a $28 billion, two-year deficit.

Dec. 29 Departments making furlough plans

Jon Ortiz: So you hear and then you also hear, we hear and also hear too! Print something you know is a fact!!

We were satisfied that the sources of this news were strong enough and of sufficient number to post the information on the blog. We're not in the business of blogging baseless rumors. We could not, however, reveal our sources. Hence the phrase, "We're hearing ..."

Given this user's confusion, we'll choose clearer, more specific words in the future.

And now, to lighten the mood ...

In years past
We might well have asked,
What's a default swap and why should we care?
But with the burst of a bubble
And associated trouble,
We now worry our houses might be worth less than air.

Programs will have to be axed.
People will have to be taxed.
The budget is something California's elected leaders have not mastered.
And now Arnold has proposed state worker furloughs; that...meanie!

But on a night that was late in 2008,
On a winter eve as Christmas drew near,
My son Max said to me "if Santa isn't real, that's a thing I don't want to hear."
"Wait 'till I'm 20, tell me then," he said.
He said this to me one night from his bed.

From a seven year-old mind comes an idea that may help us thrive.
Denial is something for which we should strive.
So with family and friends, let's bring in the New Year with a whole lot of cheer.
Because certainly, certainly recovery is near!

Terrific post proving once again that user contributions give this blog energy, entertainment value and insight.

The furlough fight continues with this petition filed in Sacramento Superior Court by California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment.

From Lisa Marie Burcar, spokewoman for the California Association of Professional Scientists and Professional Engineers in California Government, sent us this notice:

On Friday, January 9 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 33 (Judge Connelly), a hearing will be on the PECG/CAPS lawsuit challenging the Governor's furlough plan.

PECG/CAPS will ask the court to set the matter for a hearing on the merits on January 20, 2009.

The lawsuit, filed jointly by the Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) and the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS), seeks to block the furlough and pay cut order because the Governor has no authority to take those actions without legislative approval.

View the lawsuit by clicking here.

DPA Cal-EPA spokeswoman BreAnda Norcutt sent this e-mail about our post this morning regarding Cal-EPA closing on the first and third Fridays if the furlough plan goes forward:

Hi Jon -

Happy New Year! Just wanted to shoot you a quick correction email. Not sure who your "reliable source" is, but Cal/EPA days will most likely not be 1st and 3rd Fridays. Nothing is finalized yet, but the Secretary does want to pick two days a month (preferably Friday's) to close the building in order to garner additional operating savings.

BreAnda

Although we've reported that individual state agencies are making their furlough plans, Department of Personnel Administration spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley said that DPA has nothing yet to officially announce about the 2-day-per-month program. We'll immediately let you know when any furlough news develops.

Meanwhile, state worker contract negotiations restarted this morning. We don't expect any announcements on new deals until after elected state workers settle on a budget. When do you think that will happen?

And finally, we just got off the phone with SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker for a story we're writing about the governor's proposal to save money on state worker health benefits. Look for the report in Tuesday's Bee.

UPDATE - Jan. 6: Our story didn't run in today's Bee because of space issues. It's been rescheduled for Wednesday.

From Saturday's Wall Street Journal:

After suffering through 2008, some big pension funds are having second thoughts about their exposure to private-equity firms, hedge funds and other nontraditional investments.

Across the U.S., pension-fund managers and investment officers have been scrutinizing their asset allocations, especially toward alternative investments. In addition to wilted returns, pension funds are leery because some hedge funds have made it hard to cash out, including by postponing redemption requests from investors.

Other pension funds that barreled into private equity have been crunched by capital calls, or demands to deliver cash that are often conditions of investment with private-equity firms. While those obligations aren't a surprise, many pension funds expected to offset the payments with returns from other private-equity investments. Such gains have been rare.

The story, which you can read by clicking here, focuses on CalPERS and CalSTRS investments and how the funds are reviewing them in light of recent losses.

The State Information Officers Council has invited us to speak at its monthly brown bag lunch on Thursday.

We're excited and honored at the chance to talk to the state's media voices. We work with them almost every day, and have found them to be a highly professional, responsive group.

(And free with their money. We won an SiOC scholarship in 2002 while studying journalism and political science at Sac State.)

Here's the e-mail blast the council sent to members last week.

IMAGE: coolclips.com

A reliable source at Cal-EPA tells us that the agency will close on the first and third Fridays of each month to comply with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's furlough order (assuming that the courts or PERB don't block it).

As we reported last week, some departments have concluded that shutting down their operations two days per month makes more sense than trying to jigger thousands of employee schedules to keep their departments running business as usual.

Cal-EPA officials decided on the first and third Fridays because those days line up with holidays such as Labor Day to give employees four-day weekends.

Our Bee Biz Departent colleague Dale Kasler has details about CalPERS' ill-fated LandSource real estate deal in this Sunday front-page / home-page story. A must-read for anyone invested -- or simply interested -- in the fund.

Here's a follow up on Controller John Chiang's condition. As we reported earlier this week, he went to a Fort Worth hospital last Friday with chest pains.

Controller John Chiang admitted himself into Harris Methodist Southwest Hospital, Fort Worth, Texas on 12/26/08 for evaluation and treatment of chest discomfort.

Testing during his hospitalization revealed evidence of a mild heart attack. According to his attending physician, he demonstrated an excellent response to treatment and was subsequently discharged on 1/1/09.

During his hospitalization, the Controller was in daily contact with his office and actively directed its fiscal oversight operations, which included planning for the projected cash crunch in February.

His attending physician has prescribed rest and follow-up evaluation by the Controller's personal doctor. He anticipates the Controller will continue with the excellent progress he has made to date in his recuperation. The Controller remains in good condition and looks forward to returning to the office next week.

Jacob Roper
Office of State Controller John Chiang

We recently posted a statement from the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2009-10 budget, which includes a plan to consolidate, streamline or eliminate 28 state boards, agencies, commissions and departments.

What we couldn't tell from from the release, however, was where CAPT stands on consolidating of the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians with the Board of Registered Nursing.

So we asked. Here's CAPT spokeswoman Brady Oppenheim's e-mailed reply:

Hi Jon -

On the BVNPT, we want to find out all of the details about what's involved in this early proposal, and how it would affect Psych Tech licensure if implemented.

It is absolutely imperative that California's Psychiatric Technicians maintain their licensed standing, formal education and regulation -- all of which we've been advocating other states to do for their level-of-care mental health and developmental staff. Here are some articles on what's going on in Colorado, one of the few other states that actually license its Psych Techs.

CAPT is not only the elected union for state-employed Psychiatric Technicians and related staff, but also is the professional organization for all of the state's 14,000 licensed Psych Techs.

Let me know if you want more info! Take care.

The two CAPT Outreach magazine articles Oppenheim sent along focus on a Colorado proposal to end psych tech licensure in 2014. You can read the magazine's Oct. 20 piece here and its Dec. 30 follow up by clicking this link.

SEIU Local 1000 posted this message to members. It reminds them that its contract "requires the state to pick up 80% of all health insurance costs, including the cost of all premium increases." It also compliments CalPERS for holding down 2009 premium increases to "the lowest in more than 10 years ..."

Sounds like the union won't be supporting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to switch state worker health care administration from CalPERS to a state agency. (Two sources have told us it would be DPA.)

The California Association of Psychiatric Technicians has issued this statement about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2009-10 budget.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Dec 24 More about Sutter County pensions ...

I keep hearing that state workers make less than their counterparts in the real world, but nobody offers anything to back up that claim. If the pay in the private sector is really higher than in the public sector, why don't state workers take those higher-paying jobs?

The state Department of Personnel Administration since 2006 has commissioned a dozen studies on this issue. You can click here to find links to all of them.

Making public-to-private comparisons across job classes is difficult, since many government jobs have no private sector counterpart. Government-to-government comparisons have dubious value because they fail to reflect cost-of-living factors that vary by geography.

Still, the surveys that have tackled California state worker pay indicate that some state employees often earn less, even with benefits considered, than workers performing comparable duties in other governments or the private sector. Some earn more.

Dec. 25 The State Worker: Furlough scenario may come with steep price

Dear Jon Ortiz: The Senate Republicans are in favor of furloughs for state workers AND legislative staff, and a pay cut for the legislators. Please feel free to call ANY of the Sen Reps for a comment regarding this topic. And then you will be practicing balanced journalism! A Leg staffer

The Republican and Democratic positions on the budget are well-known. We're less interested in relaying the usual soundbites from elected state workers than chronicling the impact of their actions (or inactions) on California's unelected state workers. Legislators should feel free to call us ANY time regarding that topic.

And we've noted several times that elected state workers in either party can individually cut their pay at any time. To our knowledge, neither party has stepped forward to collectively lead by example.

Moving on ...

We enjoyed this amusing mini-thread that mixed humor, analysis and ... Patton?

This first comment responded to a user calling for a political "Patton" to "whack some big chunks out of the budget." User rwneill offered this "speech" by about the hard-charging WWII general, played in the movie by George C. Scott , to workers at the Franchise Tax Board.

If you've seen the movie, you can practically hear the gravel-voiced general exhorting the troops:

(Bugle plays) Patton: All this stuff you've heard about Californians not wanting to be taxed is a lot of horse manure. Californians love to be taxed. All real Americans love the sting of taxes.

Now we have the finest tax collectors and the best Blackberries in the world. We're not just going to audit the taxpayers, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our Hummers. Wade into them! Spill their wallets & purses! When you put your hand into a bunch of gooey revenue, that a moment before was in your best friend's wallet, you'll know what to do.

I don't want to get any messages saying we're "holding our position." We aren't holding anything except the taxpayer by the nose while we kick them in the butt. We're going to go through their wallets & purses like crap through a goose!

All right, now, you know how I feel.
(Limousines rumble away)
(Dog barks)

User BobbyBaker continued the Patton theme (with the governor now playing Patton) to riff on state employee labor unions:

Reply to rwneill: Governor walks through the California Chamber of Commerce ICU. He is surrounded by bleeding bodies. Here is HiTech, bleeding terribly, he pins a purple heart on the pillow next to his good ear.

He moves to the next bed, where the Hollywood Film Industry lies legless and bound from butt to head. So wrecked, he can only be fed by an IV. He kisses him on the forehead, and prays over him.

(whimper, whimper, sniff, sniff) "What's wrong with you?"

The state labor union lays comfortably in a California King Size Posturepedic bed with Memory Foam, clutching the remote control to the only TV in the room. His bed tray is being cleared of the fine china and Filet Mignon he sent back for being too well done. His silk pajamas are freshly pressed.

"It's all this talk of budget cuts, sir." (whimper sniff whimper) "I can't take it anymore."

SLAP!!!

"Why your nothing but Yellow-Bellied Coward!! Why I oughta..."

The nurses union cuts the video feed.

High marks to both for creativity. Click here to see a "Patton" movie trailer. (At the 2:17 mark you'll see a scene from the film that inspired BobbyBaker's post.)

IMAGE: George C. Scott as Gen. Patton slaps a soldier. / events.sacbee.com

We've had some time to think over Wednesday's budget news ("Schwarzenegger urges health care shift for state workers") and we have some questions.

How exactly would the state ( specifically DPA, according to two sources familiar with the plan) save money by taking over state employee health care insurance?

Do the estimated savings include the administrative costs of shifting information from CalPERS to a state agency?

What impact would splitting off 567,000 state workers and their families have on future health care costs for cities, counties and other public agencies that would continue to get their insurance through the fund?

Would state retirees' health insurance leave CalPERS, too? (If so, that would bring the total headcount switched from CalPERS to nearly 800,000 and leave CalPERS with about 500,000.)

The governor has representation on CalPERS' board, specifically DPA Dirctor Dave Gilb. Has Gilb voiced concern about CalPERS' health insurance costs? How did he vote on the last premium increase? Did he voice any concern that CalPERS should have done better?

Why do this at all, especially when other parts of the budget extoll the virtues of consolidation and streamlining to save money? Is there another agenda behind the governor's proposal?

We're wrapping up our review of the 10 most-visited posts on The State Worker as reflected by user hits in 2008. If you missed part one, stop now and click here to get Nos. 10 to six in the countdown.

Moving on ...

#5 with 8,185 hits -- Budget in sight, state worker contract talks next (Sept. 15)

In retrospect, a hopelessly naive headline.

#4 with 8,895 hits -- Schwarzenegger: State now 'almost forced' into layoffs (Dec. 2)

The press conference that whipped up a firestorm.

#3 with 9,785 -- More about union leader arrested on child porn (Sept. 10)

SEIU Local 1000 spokesman Jim Zamora earned his pay with a 1 a.m. e-mail responding to our late-night questions about (now former) SEIU Local 1000 District Labor Council 784 President Jaime E. Feliciano.

#2 with 10,842 hits -- Schwarzenegger pens letter to state workers (Nov. 6)

The second of the "Dear Valued State Worker" letters. Schwarzenegger's Dec. 19 furlough notice dropped "valued" from the salutation.

And now ... (click here) ... the moment you've been waiting for ...

#1 with 13,107 hits -- Who's exempt?

Will we be writing that headline in 2009?