A citizens group is proposing an initiative that would cut legislative sessions to a maximum of 95 days and reduce lawmakers' pay by at least 50 percent. The Legislature was part time until 1966. In 2008, legislators were in session for all but a six-week period.

SEIU Local 1000 has posted a memo urging its members to stay home on Columbus Day, Oct. 12. The rationale: With no new contract, the previous contract remains in effect, and that contract gives SEIU members Columbus Day off. The DPA counters the memo by saying employees who take Columbus Day off must get permission and use leave. A KCRA.com new story is here. The State Worker blog report is here.

By extending seasonal and weekday closures and reducing maintenance, among other cost-cutting measures, the governor's office has determined it will not have to close any state parks completely. One hundred parks had been slated for closure. In a follow-up report, The Sacramento Bee writes that crime in state parks is soaring and could get worse with the proposed cuts.

The Sacramento Bee State Worker blog links to the brief SEIU Local 1000 filed to overturn a Sacramento Superior Court judge's ruling that the governor's furlough order is legal.

From this morning's State Worker blog: The state's gross payroll shrank in February, compared to February 2008, by nearly $62 million. And good news for SCIF employees, including ACSS members: Now that a judge has ruled SCIF workers are exempt from furloughs, employees will receive back pay with interest.

In her speech formally announcing her candidacy for governor Tuesday, Meg Whitman called the state bureaucracy "selfish and arrogant." She promised to cut 40,000 state workers from the payroll and crack down on their "overly generous benefits." To read readers' comments on the speech, open The State Worker blog here.

On Affiliate Day, ACSS completed the first step in its effort to strategize the organization’s future. President Arlene Espinoza characterizes the planning project with a question: “Where does ACSS go and grow?” The daylong workshop was led by Eric Douglas, president and CEO of Learning Resources Inc. of Sacramento. To read a report on Affiliate Day, click here.

The general consensus on this year’s General Council was that it was the best ever. It also may have been the shortest. With no more essential business to conduct, President Dave Hart adjourned Sunday night, eliminating the need to return on Labor Day.

Click here to read highlights of this year’s GC. For photos of GC, click here.

The Sacramento Bee is running a three-part series examinging the history of California's budget crisis since sales and state income taxes were first approved in the 1930s. Now a special commission and reform groups are set to propose radical changes in our tax laws, including overhauling the state constitution. Sunday part 1. Monday part 2. Tuesday part 3.

The state added 6,800 new employees in the first half of this year. Find out which agencies hired and link to the report in The State Worker blog.

From today's State Worker column: Public employees in 21 states are being or will be furloughed, but no other government entity has reduced employee pay as steeply as California. In addition, most other states negotiated furloughs with their unions. As a result, California now has 19 furlough lawsuits in the courts.

In the pension debate, "portraying government employees as the 'haves' and private sector employees as the 'have-nots' is a creative but inaccurate twist on historical reality," writes a columnist for the Tampa Bay Tribune. We need more defined pension benefit plans, not fewer, the writer says. (linked from The State Worker blog)

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass looks at the positives in this year's budget in a guest column in today's Sacramento Bee.

State consitutional officers say they're handling their shrinking budgets without furlough or layoffs, The Sacramento Bee reports. Some are asking: So were the furloughs necessary?

State employees enrolled in CalPERS' PPO health plans will pay no premiums for their health insurance during October and November. The premiums are being suspended so that CalPERS can pay down an excess of funds it has accumulated in its PPO plan reserves. Only PPO enrollees are affected and their health care coverage will continue uninterrupted.