The CalPERS board at its December meeting tightened rules regulating board interaction with CalPERS staff concerning investment proposals. The board also gave its president the authority to discipline board members whose actions violate policy and is requiring members to attend anual training to detail their responsibilities.

Darrell Steinberg, Senate President Pro Tem, told The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert last week that the first place he'll look for cost savings next year is the state prisons. He supports reserving state prisons for those who committed violent and serious crimes and letting those convicted of less serious crimes do their time in other jail systems. He also said he hopes to eliminate ineffectual tax credits and close tax loopholes. The state is facing a $21 billion deficit over the next 18 months.

The State Worker column this morning speculates on ways the governor could retract his plan to extend furloughs for state workers. Some are less fanciful than others.

In breaking news, The Sacramento Bee is reporting that the governor's 2010 budget plan will keep furloughs for state workers and include layoff options and perhaps shifting some general fund workers into positions financed with other revenues. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said he hopes to "curtain the number of furlough days and shift the burden of cost savings away from state employees." Gov. Schwarzenegger will present his budget plan the first week of January. (This link was updated to an expanded story Dec. 24.)

Members of same-sex couples who married in states where same-sex marriage is legal and who are dependents of a CalPERS member will be eligible for state health, vision and dental coverage beginning Jan. 1. Read full story here. Read the text of SB54, authorizing the coverage, here.

Updated story from The Sacramento Bee: An Alameda Superior Court judge has ruled the furloughs are illegal for state correctional officers whose pay is reduced but who have to wait to take their time off. The CCPOA had argued that the furloughs violated a labor law that stipulates compensation at 24/7 facilities be paid within a given pay cycle. The decision doesn't invalidate the furloughs but requires the officers be paid back wages. Three other furlough cases are awaiting decision.

With many families hurting financially this year, the state controller's office has launched a new Web site, "Your Finances, Your Future," to help Californians make better decisions about managing their money. The site promises to help you improve your personal financial skills, save more, plan better for big purchases and avoid too much credit card debt, among other topics. State Controller John Chiang notes that his own immigrant family endured financial challenges during his childhood.

The CalPERS board Wednesday approved an increase in the state's contribution to the pension fund that is far lower than the governor wants, forcing the governor now to plead his case to the Legislature.

It hasn't been a good year for SEIU Local 1000. Now the union's hand-picked candidate, Cathy Hackett, has lost the CalPERS board runoff to J.J. Jelincic, a former California State Employees Association president (today's State Worker column).

The CalPERS Health Benefits Committee today approved a recommendation to raise premiums between 15 and 22 percent in 2010 for its long-term care program. The program now has a deficit of nearly 33 percent. The long-term care program is voluntary and funded entirely through enrollee premium payments.

Three years into an expensive overhaul of state prison health care, the state in 2008 spent $60 million on health care overtime. Many medical staffers are working 16- and 18-hour shifts; the average is 12 hours. Spending on medical temps is another issue: Doctors who are not state employees have made as much as $527 an hour. Read The Sacramento Bee's two-part series on prison medical staffing: Part 1 and Part 2.

J.J. Jelincic has defeated Cathy Hackett in the runoff election for a CalPERS board seat, according to several sources. The count: 109,088 votes to 104,656. Jelincic has worked for CalPERS for 23 years and is a past president of CSEA.

The Department of Personnel Administration (PML 2009-045) announced a new state personal vehicle mileage reimbursement rate of 50 cents a mile for all state employees except those in bargaining unit 6, effective Jan. 1.

The State Worker column today does the math. Meg Whitman's assertion that public employees can retire at 50 or 55 with virtually full salaries means they'd have to start working in kindergarten.

Because of the furloughs, aspiring drivers in Sacramento are finding it nearly impossible to make an appointment for their driving tests. Some end up waiting so long they have to take – and pay for – their written tests again.