The Sacramento Bee reports the governor plans to propose yet another 5 percent paycut -- this time without giving a day off -- on state workers today. The move would save $500 million in next year's budget, the governor's office said.

To ACSS members: If you attended Lobby Day and have not turned in your expense claims, please do so immediately. We must report all Lobby Day expenses to our political action committee administrator. If you do not have a Lobby Day expense form, designated for this event, you can get one at headquarters by calling 800-624-2137. We have already extended our reporting deadline and it is crucial to get these forms in as quickly as possible. Mail them to: ACSS Headquarters, 1108 O St., Sacramento CA 95814.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz punctures holes in the common perception that state workers are pampered and overpaid. For example: Think all state workers retire into luxury? Think again. Their average pension is $27,000 a year.

In addition to slashing funds for schools and laying off 5,000 more state workers to help close the projected $24.3 budget gap, Gov. Schwarzenegger has proposed shutting the state's main welfare program, releasing nonviolent prisoners a year early and closing up to 80 percent of state parks.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System, in the face of a $22.5 billion funding gap, may ask the Legislature for higher pension contributions from the state, school districts and teachers. Unlike CalPERS, CalSTRS needs legislative approval to impose rate hikes. At least one legislator has suggested raising the retirement age as a way of lowering expenses.

The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert reports Gov. Schwarzenegger today announced $5.6 billion in additional cuts, including cutting the CalWORKS program. Dropping the state's welfare-to-work program would save the state $1.3 billion.

Despite the results of Tuesday's election, SEIU Local 1000 continues to press for passage of AB 964, its proposed employment contract, and to promote cost-saving solutions for California. The MOU failed on its first vote in the Assembly.

The Legislative Analyst's Office released two sobering reports in the past two days. The "Overview of the 2009-10 May Revision" includes among its money-saving suggestions a third furlough day for state workers, extended through 2011, and the defeat of the proposed SEIU contract. The document also warns the administration's projected $21 billion shortfall may be too low by about $3 billion. "California's Cash Flow Crisis" gives the picture of the state's cash problems in graphic detail.

The DPA's Layoff Manual, with detailed and technical information on state civil service layoffs, is posted online. The manual is subdivided into separate pdf sections. This manual adds depth to ACSS' "Facing Layoff?" booklet, which gives you information in an easy-to-understand format. A DPA overview of the layoff process is here.

The State Worker columnist tries his hand at finding positions laid-off employees might transfer into. The result seems to be: not easy, not many. To keep up to date on layoff commentary and information, check columnist Jon Ortiz's blog.

Associated Press reports that Gov. Schwarzenegger will now look to close California's budget gap with cuts alone. He plans to meet today with state lawmakers to discuss options, which include cuts in education and health care and transferring prisoners to local and federal prisons.

From The Sacramento Bee: An independent commission voted 5-1 today to impose an 18 percent pay cut for statewide elected officials and all members of the Legislature. The commissioners said they were influenced by Gov. Schwarzenegger's announcement of 5,000 state job cuts and the results of yesterdays election.

California's voters shouted their feelings yesterday on the handling of the budget crisis by defeating each of five propositions with nearly a two-thirds margin and approving the sixth -- a measure that would freeze legislators' salaries in bad budget years -- by 74 percent.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman -- former president of eBay -- will cut 10 percent of the state's workforce if she's elected, she told CNN yesterday. The State Worker blog reports the story and links to the interview.

If you've received a layoff notice or expect you might be laid off, ACSS’ booklet, "Facing Layoff?" is full of information that could help you understand the process and your rights. We’ve just uploaded a 2009 PDF version. If you’d like a copy of our older printed version, email lholderness@calcsea.org. If you are an ACSS member and need advice or representation, call 800-624-2137. You also may be eligible for financial assistance from ACSS. The information on this program is on this site under Financial Assistance on the Labor Relations page.

Notices of layoffs went out to about 5,000 workers Friday, reports State Worker columnist/blogger Jon Ortiz. Corrections, with 3,600 notices, and Health and Human Services, with 1,000, took the biggest hits. Further down, the State Worker links to the Next 10 interactive budget game -- you decide how to balance the state budget.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz captures the outrage of state workers faced with layoffs -- after paycuts and reduced holidays. "Why does everybody want to take it out on me?" one state worker asks.

In breaking news, Gov. Schwarzenegger has announced he will lay off 5,000 state workers. We will update this item after the governor's budget presentation this afternoon. 5 p.m. update: Other cuts include shortening the school year, releasing thousands of undocumented immigrants into federal custody, eliminating funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs. May 15 update: A more detailed story with quotes.

Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to propose today selling seven state properties to raise money to help solve the budget crisis. The seven: The Los Angeles Coliseum, San Quentin Prison, Cal Expo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, the Cow Palace, the Del Mar Fairground, Orange County Fairgrounds and Ventura Fair. The sales could bring in more than $21 billion.

The Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert reports today that Gov. Schwarzenegger will propose eliminating or consolidating about two-dozen boards, bureaus and departments in his May revise. The Integrated Waste Management Board is on the chopping block again, and the blog items lists several more.

The California Budget Project has published its updated report, "Uncharted Waters: Navigating the Social and Economic Context of California's Budget." The PowerPoint format is brief and easy to read. The report includes information on the May 19 ballot initiatives.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass has cut the budgets of Assembly members by 10 percent a year, or about $29,000. Legislators' salaries are not affected.

Due to the sharp economic decline, the budget deficit has grown as high as $21.3 billion through June, the governor has announced. The changes have caused a "significant new budget problem to emerge," the governor wrote in a letter to the Legislature. The governor's numbers are "within the ballpark," Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has changed his mind and will now propose two versions of his revised May budget on Thursday rather than wait until the special election five days later. If the initiatives don't pass, the governor said, the second proposal will contain more severe cuts.

A Legislative Analyst Office report issued yesterday predicts the state's cash flow pressures will reemerge this summer or fall, especially if the bond measures in the May 19 election fail. The Legislature's choice, the report states, is to reduce short-term borrowing by increasing revenues and decreasing expenditures or delaying or defering scheduled payments. In a Sacramento Bee article, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass predicts the solution will "be about devastating cuts." And in further bad budget news, The Bee's Capitol Alert blog reports that state tax revenues are already $2.1 billion below estimates.

DPA Benefits Division is sponsoring statewide workshops to help state workers "Increase Your Paycheck." The workshops discuss the FlexElect program, pre-tax parking, Savings Plus and the employee suggestion program. A two-page pdf flier with more information, dates and locations is attached.

Today is the last day to register to vote in the May 19 election, and May 12 is the last day to request vote-by-mail ballots. Voters will be deciding the fate of six propositions critical to the governor's budget plan. The Secretary of State's office, known for being among the most tech-savvy in the nation, is offering official "election news as it happens" through Twitter.

An assembly bill that would have put the SEIU contract into law was defeated Monday when 13 Republicans abstained, saying the vote should wait until after the May 19 elections. On that date, California voters will decide the fate of six propositions that affect the state budget. The bill, AB964, can be brought back for another vote. The State Worker blog reports on the reactions of SEIU and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass.

We continue to add services to our ACSS Web site. We have now opened our "newsroom" tab. This area will contain ACSS' newsletters and magazines, copies of our eblasts, press releases and other publications. We also have included a section here for chapters to share their information and newsletters. This site is still a work-in-progress and we welcome your comments.

The State Worker blog reports that General Services will make swine flu supplies available to state agencies. Items include medical and janitorial supplies, blankets and cots, disinfectants. The blog includes two links -- here and here -- with instructions on procuring the supplies.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has appointed Dan Dunmoyer, a former cabinet secretary, to replace Marjorie Berte as the administration's insurance industry representative on the CalPERS board, according to The State Worker blog. The blog also reveals who benefited from the $580,000 for space the state leased but never used.

After yesterday's defeat by the California Citizens Compensation Commission of a 10 percent pay cut for legislators and constitutional officers, Governor Schwarzenegger declared his support for the pay cut and appointed three commissioners to fill vacant board seats. The new members, the governor said, "share my belief that state government needs to cut back just like every California family and business is doing" (Sacramento Bee).

In a first for ACSS, we had a videographer create a short (less than 8 minutes) presentation of our members' Lobby Day activites. Lobby Day, when we meet face to face with legislators, is our most important event each year. Experience the day, from planning sessions, conversations with legislators and personal testimonies on the value of Lobby Day and ACSS, in this new format.Note: We're also on YouTube!

The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert reports this morning that the California Citizens Compensation Commission will meet today at 10 a.m. at Sacramento City Hall to review the salaries of legislators and constitutional officers. Legislators $116,208, not including per diem, each year. The posting suggests legislators won't get a raise -- but will they get a cut? UPDATE: The commission was one vote short of cutting legislators' and constitutional officers' pay by 10 percent.

The two bills ACSS is sponsoring passed their first hurdle Tuesday with approval of the Assembly Committee on Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security. Chapter 503 member Carlos Chavez testified on behalf of ACSS. The bills now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. If they are successful there, they will move to the full Assembly and then to the Senate.

AB 843 (Marty Block) would delete the requirement that a disciplined managerial employee in an adverse action has the burden of proof, and AB 1161 (Joan Buchanan) would, with some exceptions, require an adverse action against a managerial employee be filed within one year of the discovery of cause for discipline instead of three years.

Photo: Carlos Chavez, left, and Assembly Marty Perez share congratulations on the bills' successful passage.

An editorial today in The Sacramento Bee calls the bonuses CalPERS and CalSTRS awarded their top executives "difficult to defend." The two agencies have lost over $100 billion in the last 18 months, yet paid out $7 million in bonuses. "What exactly is being rewarded here," the piece asks.

CalPERS has announced a new pilot health care option that could lower state workers' health care costs and plans to use reserves to offset PPO premiums for two months. The pilot program is an integrated health care model to be tested in the Sacramento region beginning January 2010. Under the PPO program, CalPERS will use $265 million of excess reserves to offset member and employer contributions for two months. The plan is subject to approval of a technical change in state law.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz explores the holdup of the SEIU contract bill in the Assembly. Is it payback for the SEIU State Councl's opposition to Proposition 1A or business as usual? Or is the bill, as SEIU Local 1000 contends, still on track?

We have been asked by a member to post this furlough information on the blog so it is up front rather than only on the furlough page. We're happy to comply: After getting some good news from DPA recently -- that excluded employees may take their furlough time in one-hour increments -- the news from our April 7 DPA meet and confer kind of burst our bubble: Contrary to what we had previously been made to understand, excluded employees are not eligible to replace the two holidays the governor cut with floating holidays (which SEIU has negotiated). (Click on the headline to continue reading.)

According to The Sacramento Bee, Assembly aides have been granted raises despite the state's budget shortfall. Thirty-three of the staffers made more than $100,000. Speaker Karen Bass said the Assembly had reduced other spending to offer the pay increases. Some of the aides, the article said, have not had pay increases in several years. The Senate continues a pay freeze.

According to today's State Worker blog, the SEIU contract bill may not be acted on until after the May 19 elections. The bill, AB 964, is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, then moves to the Assembly floor. As of now, it doesn't have the Republican votes to move on to the Senate. If the bill fails, the negotiations begin again.

In a press release, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced a resolution to authorize the Employment Development Department to begin hiring 1,150 new staff to speed up services and benefits to the unemployed. The new employees would answer phones in call centers in seven areas of the state. This hiring is in addition to the 850 people EDD is currently in the process of hiring through increased federal funding.

The Public Policy Institute of California has issued a report that presents a grim picture of the state's future ability to meet its demand for college-educated workers. One reason is that thousands of baby boomers are set to retire. The report projects the size of the "education skills gap" to be 1 million fewer college graduates than the state needs by 2025. (The state Department of Personnel Administration has projected that nearly half the state's supervisors and managers and 75 percent of its top management could retire in the next five years). The PPIC is offering a free program on "Closing the Gap: Meeting California's Need for College Graduates" at the CSAC Conference Center at lunchtime on April 29. (The links offer other related resources.)

The Sacramento Bee's Jon Ortiz reports that CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation's two largest pension funds, awarded millions of dollars in bonuses last year to their top executives despite losing billions.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled against the governor in a furlough suit, today's Sacramento Bee's State Worker column reports. The judge ruled against a furlough for employees of the State Compensation Insurance Fund. There's more on The State Worker blog. The "Capitol Alert" has a next-day take. You may need to scroll down to read blog items.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz reports in his blog today on the effects of SEIU's bargaining agreement on excluded employees (the agreement has not been approved by the Legislature). It confirms what we've written -- that supervisors in related bargaining units will get the one day furlough and meal/incidental per diem increase but will not get the reduced health care rate. DPA's summary of the agreement doesn't specifically state how the holiday cuts will affect excluded employees.

From The State Worker blog: In its bargaining negotiations, the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians was offered a one-day furlough but no help on health care costs or holiday or overtime cuts, the organization's representatives are reporting. The blog entry contains links to a CAPT flier and a related Sacramento Bee column by Dan Walters. Scroll down to find.

According to Sacramento Bee State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz, six of the seven constitutional officers and BOE will appeal last week's ruling that ordered them to comply with the governor's furlough order. Win or lose, the appeal postpones the furlough for the affected employees. A spokesman for Treasurer Bill Lockyear says he's "confident we'll prevail on appeal."

CalPERS will hold a public meeting May 13 to look at how its investments are allocated in view of the current market conditions. CalPERS' assets have shrunk from $239 billionto $175.1 billion, according to a Sacramento Bee report.

Many CalPERS retirees and beneficiaries saw slightly bigger benefits payments beginning with their April 1 payment. This is the result of new income tax withholding rates issued by the Internal Revenue Service, which may have ramifications when filing next year's income tax returns. For information, click on the headline above.