The State Worker: The state's five untouchable departments

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The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

November 13, 2009

The state's five untouchable departments

Here's a trivia question that may not be so trivial: How many agencies or departments within California state government get zero general fund dollars and whose money can't be tapped for short-term loans to the general fund?

Answer: Five, according to the Department of Personnel Administration.

Alene Shimazu, chief of DPA's Office of Financial Management and Economic Research , came up with the answer in a declaration that's part of SEIU v. Schwarzenegger, one of four cases scheduled for a hearing Monday in Alameda Superior Court:

Click the following link for more about this distinct group of departments and agencies.

Click here for the entire Shimazu declaration, which concludes 1,153 workers of the 1,217 employed in the five departments she researched are subject to furloughs.

(Yes, we know that State Compensation Insurance Fund and CalPERS should be on the list, too. At least we think they should. We couldn't call DPA and ask about that because the administration's office is closed for "Furlough Friday.")

SEIU is arguing that specially funded departments shouldn't be subject to furloughs. You can guess what the union's attorneys think about what Shimazu said:

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