A Sacramento Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that state workers' pay can be cut to minimum wage when lawmakers miss the budget deadline. Another hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. today. The final ruling could come at that time or a few days later. Judges rarely change their tentative rulings.

Here is a pdf of the Legislative Analyst's analysis of the McCauley Public Pension Reform Act. To recap: Signatures are now being gathered to put an intiative on the ballot to allow public agencies to reduce their retirees' pensions. We urge you not to sign this petition! The LAO report concludes that any savings that might result from reducing pensions would likely be offset from increases in other costs.

According to a report covered by The Sacramento Bee, California's "shortsighted" payment plan is causing CalPERS retirees' benefits to cost far more than they need to. One proposed way to help: Raise new hires' benefitted retirement ages.

We have written in the past about intent of Paul McCauley to place an intiative on the ballot to reduce public employees' pensions. McCauley has gotten permission to gather signatures. Sacramento Bee columnistJon Ortiz warned state workers about McCauley's intent. You will be interested in McCauley's response. You should also read the Secretary of State's announcement of the initiative.

The official title of this measure is: Renegotiation of Public Employee Pension Contracts. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. If approached to sign a petition, read it carefully!

If you have questions about the state's layoff process, you can get answers in ACSS' free booklet, "Information and Counsel for State Excluded Employees Facing Layoff." Find it on our Web site under the "Labor Relations" tab or call 800-624-2137.

In the final budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger cut the budgets of the constitutional officers -- who refused to furlough their workers -- by 10 percent, the projected savings of two furlough days a month. He cut Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's budget by a whopping two-thirds. The governor also is asking for approval to eliminate the Integrated Waste Management Board, against protests.

Here, in easy bullet format, are the major provisions in the budget plan just approved.

After a five-day impasse and a 45-hour session, the Legislature approved the budget package today. Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, provided the final Senate vote in exchange for some concessions, including establishing an open primary system and banning legislative pay increases during deficit years. Maldonado also won the elimination of an additional 12-cent gas tax.

ACSS members had mounted a legislative action campaign to urge Maldonado to vote for the budget compromise.

Keep sending those emails urging your Republican senators to vote for the budget!

New GOP leader Dennis Hollingsworth, elected late last night in an ouster of Dave Cogdill, said this morning he hopes "this deal doesn't make it through." He wants a budget with no tax increase. The budget deal negotiated between legislators and the governor still lacks one Republican vote for passage (Cogdill and Roy Ashburn are on board). California requires a two-thirds majority to pass a budget.

To read a copy of the governor's layoff letter (called a "surplus notice"), click the above headline.

Gov. Schwarzenegger held off sending 20,000 layoff notices when the budget was expected to pass. With no budget, he now says he'll send those notices Tuesday morning.

Sen. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, hasn't committed yet to providing the final vote needed to approve the budget plan. He's holding out for four concessions, reports say: (1) an open primary for statewide office; (2) elimination of pay for lawmakers if they do not pass the budget on time; (3) a ban on legislative pay raises and per diem increases in years when there is a budget deficit; and (4) removal of pork from the budget proposal. For his chances and additional details, go to the Capitol Alert.

Meanwhile, no budget talks have begun today. The plan now is to start at 6 p.m.

The legislators failed to reach a budget agreement yesterday and are scheduled to try again at 11 a.m. today. Sen. Abel Maldonado of San Luis Obispo has indicated he may provide the third Republican vote the agreement needs to pass.

The Sacramento Bee has just published an online editorial we urge you to pay attention to. The headline tells the tale: "Please call Sen. Cox and urge him to be a hero."

It's Sunday afternoon and the budget deal is still stalled. Three Republican votes are needed. Until yesterday, Sen. Dave Cox of Fair Oaks -- who less than 24 hours ago referred to the state treasury's "dire need of cash" -- was expected to be one of the three. Early this morning, he backed down.

We urge you to follow The Bee's suggestion: Call Cox and tell him to cast that "yes" vote. The budget crisis affects you no matter where you live. If the gap isn't resolved immediately, the state will run out of cash and everyone in Caifornia will suffer.

Please call Sen. Cox today -- now -- and insist he cast his vote for the budget compromise that has been so painstakingly hammered out and is so close to passing.The future of California is at stake.

Cox's number: 916-651-4001.

The budget plan stalled in the state Senate early this morning in need of one more Republican vote, reports a Sacramento Bee Alert. GOP leader Dave Cogdill supported the plan; Sen. Roy Ashburn of Bakersfield abstained. Sen. Dave Cox of Fair Oaks, expected to provide the needed third vote, voted no. The contentious issue is tax increases.

Acording to a Sacramento Bee report by Jon Ortiz, SEIU, which represents 95,000 rank-and-file state workers, reached a tentative agreement with the governor today that calls for only one furlough day instead of the two the governor had ordered. That reduces the pay cut to just under 5 percent. The deal cuts two holidays – Lincoln's birthday and Columbus Day – but adds two floating holidays to replace them.

In one concession, the union agreed to apply the furlough to the employees of departments run by constitutional officers.

ACSS has taken a strong stand with DPA that supervisors will not receive harsher treatment than rank and file, and we are working to make sure these improvements are passed along to excluded employees. We will update you on this Web site and by email when we have definitive information.

More information is on the SEIU Web site.

The Legislature has put off its vote on the budget plan until at least 5 p.m. The governor did, however, hold off on issuing 20,000 layoff notices to state workers.

The Legislature is scheduled to vote on the latest budget proposal Saturday at 9 a.m. The governor has said he may hold off sending 20,000 layoff notices to state workers until after the vote.

The Sacramento Bee online "Capitol Alert" this morning is reporting more details on the tentative budget plan. The vote is expected tomorrow. The details from The Bee begin below. For the complete item, click on the headline above:

The 30,000-foot view: $15.8 billion in cuts, $14.3 billion in tax increases, $10.9 billion in borrowing. And if California gets $10 billion in federal stimulus money, cuts drop by $1.2 billion, borrowing by $5.5 billion and tax increases by $1.8 billion.

Delving deeper the plan: Gives K-12 education $5 billion less than it was otherwise entitled.

Some of the details that have been revealed in the tentative budget: A one cent sales tax increase; a 12 cents per gallon gasoline tax increase; a vehicle license fee increase of more than 75 percent – all for two or five years; and personal income tax increases across the board. If a budget with sufficient savings isn't signed by Friday, the governor is ready to send layoff notices.

The holiday cuts in the proposed budget agreement will be permanent, but the governor could relax the furlough to reach bargaining agreements, according to a Sacramento Bee report. However, one furlough day will likely remain.

Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders have reached a tentative budget deal to close the projected $40 billion gap, according to a brief Sacramento Bee item. A vote is expected Friday. Among the reported provisions: Increasing income tax, raising the sales tax by a penny, raising the vehicle licensing fee. We will update this information as it becomes available.

Gov. Schwarzenegger said today he will send layoff warnings to 20,000 state workers if the budget agreement is not reached by Friday. He also wants to eliminate 10,000 full-time state jobs.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has sued Controller John Chiang to force him to apply the furloughs to employees of the state's constitutional offices.

As state workers are being furloughed, many Senate staffers are not only not being furloughed but are getting their pay padded, according to a Sacramento Bee investigation. A Bee editorial decries the practice.

New Capitol Alert posting: Every living governor, including Attorney General Jerry Brown, is urging Gov. Schwarzenegger not to eliminate the California Conservation Corps. The agency typically hires young men and women to work for a year on outdoor state projects. The savings would be $24 million compared to a $40 billion deficit.

The employees of the state's seven constitutional offices are reporting to work today as usual, according to The Sacramento Bee. The governor's legal affairs secretary says the administration will go back to court on the issue. What's open today, what's closed and who's exempt? DMV is closed; EDD is open. Here's a complete list.

Several California financial institutions have agreed to extend credit to Californians impacted by the cash crisis, Controller John Chiang is reporting.

The governor lost a round this morning. Judge Patrick Marlette ruled that his order upholding Schwarzenegger's furlough order does not extend to employees of the state's constitutional offices, State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz reports. The ruling was issued in response to a letter from Controller John Chiang asking for clarification.

The furlough is slated to begin tomorrow. Beyond the known impacts -- savings to the state, closed state offices, suffering businesses - there will be personal consequences. The State Worker columnist takes a look at those.

The Department of Personnel Administration today issued it personnel management liaisons memo implementing the furlough plan ordered by the governor. The memo states the furlough applies to all employees not specifically exempted. Benefits will not be affected. The first furlough day is Friday, Feb. 6.

State Controller John Chiang has asked the judge who issued the ruling upholding the governor's right to furlough last week to clarify whether the ruling applies to constitutional officers. After the ruling, Schwarzenegger expanded the furlough to include agencies that had been considered exempt.

ACSS is looking for your thoughts on how the 10 percent paycut will affect your families so we can pass them on to legislators this afternoon and later this week. Please send your stories to the Web site editor at lholderness@calcsea.org. Legislators are saying that state workers have not contacted them and are concluding the state employees are not opposed to the furloughs. Let us show them otherwise!

Gov. Schwarzenegger says the furlough includes the employees of the departments headed by the seven constitutional officers as well as the Board of Equalization. Those agencies had said they would not furlough their workers. The Department of Personnel Administration has sent Controller John Chiang a pay letter ordering these agencies furlough their employees.

Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters writes that cutting prison expenses is necessary to fix the budget. He also discusses the impact of the vehicle license fee that Schwarzenegger cut when he came into office.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette has ruled Gov. Schwarzenegger can furlough state workers and ordered Controller John Chiang to implement the furlough plan. The furlough will cut state workers' pay by about 10 percent until June 30, 2010. We will update this information as it becomes available. The Sacramento Bee's story quotes a response by Chaing. In the meantime, we would like to have your comments. You must be registered and logged in to comment, but registration is easy and free. You'll be able to read others' comments, too.

Gov. Schwarzenegger said yesterday if he loses the case to implement the furloughs, he will lay off state workers. The Sacramento Bee quotes the governor as saying, "I have the authority as the governor ... to lay off the amount of people necessary."

We're focused on Gov. Schwarzenegger's furlough plan, but member Bill Rigole of CDVA alerted us to this interesting article from MSNBC online giving a more national perspective. The article, by Eve Tahmincioglu in MSNBC's "Your Career" column, doesn't say furloughs are illegal, but it does caution there are "clear no-nos under federal and state labor laws." They're worth reading.

The Sacramento Bee has laid out an easy-to-follow guide on the hearing in Sacramento Superior Court tomorrow on the labor unions' challenge to the governor's furlough plan. It lists players, history, elements of the governor's proposal and a bit of legal background. ACSS is not a party to the lawsuit but is planning to file a "friend of the court" brief in support of the challengers.

The Ventura County Star has published an excellent column by Thomas Elias pointing out the gross inequities of the budget cuts. A 10 percent pay cut hurts low-income state workers far more than it does the six-figure ones. Corporations get property tax breaks of billions of dollars a year, yet public school children (but not necessarily private school kids) are being cheated out of school days. If a couple of major loopholes were closed and the vehicle licensing fee were restored, Elias says, the budget shortfall could be nearly resolved. (Thanks to Vice President Arlene Espinoza for passing this along to us.)

The 2009 CSEA Women's Conference celebrates women "Reaching New Heights Together" March 27-29. The weekend begins with a Friday evening reception, 7 to 9 p.m., welcoming special guests Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and his wife, Patti Garamendi. Saturday features workshops designed to promote women's leadership skills, including networking tips, technology and financial planning. A Sunday brunch will be enlivened by motivational speaker (and humorist) Dixie Schneider. Registration is $165. Detailed information and a registration form are in the event brochure at the above link.

CAPT, the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, has filed a lawsuit contending the governor's furlough proposal is illegal. The suit argues psych techs would have to work their regular shifts in 24-hour facilities because staffing is tight, which would result in a 10 percent paycut without time off. According to the suit, this violates the Fair Labor Standards Act. No hearing date has been set.

State Controller John Chiang says he will defer payments on $3.7 billion worth of bills beginning next Sunday if a budget isn't approved. Some of the hits: Income tax refunds and student aid. Payments to schools and interest payments to state bondholders cannot be deferred. If IOUs are issued, they will not go to state workers.

A new analysis in The Sacramento Bee shows California would get $21.5 billion under the federal government's economic stimulus plan, the most of any state. The House is expected to approve the plan next week. Nearly $5 billion of California's money would go to education. An estimated $4.5 billion would go to infrastructure such as highways and bridges. The governor says he is not recalibrating his budget to take the stimulus money into account.

ACSS board members and staff met in a meet-and-confer with Julie Chapman, a deputy director of DPA, to get information for members on the order to furlough state workers and cut two holidays. Led by Bonnie Morris, senior labor relations rep, the group got some answers to such questions as whether departments can now rescind their alternate work schedules and whether there are options for furlough schedules.

According to The Sacramento Bee, some Republican lawmakers now say they are willing to consider a tax hike to help resolve the budget crisis. They want concessions from the Democrats, though.

The Sacramento Bee State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz looks at some of the dilemmas the furloughs would raise.

Saying the furloughs were illegal, State Controller John Chiang said today he will refuse to implement the paycuts for state workers, as ordered by the governor in December, according to The Sacramento Bee. Chiang filed court documents Tuesday arguing the furlough plan is illegal.

CalPERS has named Joseph A. Dear as its next chief investment officer. Dear comes to CalPERS from the Washington State Investment Board. CalPERS is the nation's larges public employee pension and health care provider.

Despite budget hard times, Gov. Schwarzenegger has appointed two former Assembly members, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, to six-figure board positions. So far, the governor has named six former legislators to similar high-paying positions since the election.