From The State Worker blog: If watching the Olympics has motivated you to get back to the slopes, some Tahoe area ski resorts are making that a lot easier to afford. Boreal's "Frickin' Friday" deal for furloughed state employees offers $15 lift tickets on, of course, furlough Fridays (regular price: $47). Squaw Valley's $83 tickets are discounted to $49 on specified dates.

ACSS members, the deadline to reserve your room at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza for Lobby Day is March 12. To make your reservation, call the hotel at 916-446-0100. Be sure to ask for the ACSS discount. Lobby Day, our prime opportunity to introduce ourselves and our issues to legislators, will be St. Patrick's Day, March 17. Training is the night before. Call ACSS at 916-326-4257 if you have questions. Watch our Web site Lobby Day page for information.

CalPERS has scheduled only five retirement planning fairs this year: March 30 in Los Angeles; April 2 and 3 in Sacramento, April 8 in Redding and April 14 in Fresno. The retirement fairs offer information on planning for your state retirement and Social Security as well as several workshops. For locations, times and other information, check the CalPERS Web site.

The Sacramento Bee today published three cogent letters to the editor responding to an editorial that supported the governor's proposed pay cuts. The writers are not supervisors but their messages offer excellent food for thought. Scroll to see: "Good government isn't free"; "5 percent boost isn't 'modest' "; and "Bring back personal leave days." A fourth letter on pensions, "Pension cost exaggerated," was written by CSEA Retirees President Roger Marxen. To write a letter to the editor of The Bee, click here. Not every letter is published, but it's still helpful to let the editorial board know your opinion.

As if state workers hadn’t been hit hard enough: If the state budget doesn’t pass by June 15, your salaries could legally be cut to minimum wage. There is only one way to protect your paychecks: Support AB 1699. This continuous appropriation bill, by Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, authorizes the state to pay its employees their full salaries until a new budget is signed. As an ACSS member, you must urge your legislators to support this bill! It’s very important to reach as many legislators as possible because the bill requires a two-thirds majority to pass. Since it’s an urgent measure, it would go into effect immediately.The simplest way to write your legislator is to use the “Contact Your Legislators” section of this Web site. If you’ve accessed this link before, your representatives’ names will display. If not, type in your address and they will appear. Click on the “contact” tab for each rep and use the email link to send your thoughts.

If you are a member of ACSS and you haven't completed our furlough survey yet, please click on one of the links here and take it as soon as you can. The ACSS board approved possibly pursuing legal action related to the furloughs, and our chief counsel needs this information to develop this action. If you have problems with the survey, please let us know. We have been getting great response, but we need as much information from as many members as possible.

We will now be posting brief minutes of chapter meetings on our Web site. They are being logged under the "Newsroom" tab under Chapter News. We hope the exchange of information will benefit all chapters. Thank you to the members who are providing the information!

At its January board meeting, the ACSS board of directors unanimously agreed to pursue possible legal action related to the furlough of its members. We've developed a survey to help our chief counsel gather information for this potential lawsuit. You may have received this survey in your email; if not, please click on the survey link and answer a few questions here. The survey is short and your answers will be kept confidential. Please note: As referred to in the survey, "self-directed" furlough means you could choose the days you took your furlough time off rather than having those days determined for you (such as the first three Fridays the governor has now ordered).

Sending emails to your legislators or the governor, or national representatives, is easy with our "Contact Your Legislators" button, at left. When you press the button, you get a form asking for your address or Zip code. Once you've filled in the information, the email links to your representatives automatically appear. Write your reps today to tell them how you feel about the burdens the governor has placed on you and all excluded employees!

During 2010, ACSS members will be reimbursed for mileage used on behalf of the organization at 50 cents a mile. ACSS follows the federal guidelines for mileage reimbursement. To access our ACSS information blog items, click on "Info for Members" under "Blog Topics" to the left of the home page. Our information items are collected there for easy review.

The just-published Winter 2010 Today's Supervisor has been posted on this Web site under the "Newsroom" tab. Did you know your license plates were made at Folsom Prison? On the cover, you'll see a rare glimpse of the inside of the busy, colorful prison license plate factory, overseen by board member Carlos Chavez. You can read about this and other prison industries inside.

The ACSS board of directors, at its quarterly meeting Jan. 16, unanimously adopted a strategic plan that will guide the organization, the chapters and the members into a more dynamic future. We will report on this plan in various formats in the weeks to come. In the meantime, check out our PowerPoint outline.

In her column this week (at left), ACSS President Arlene Espinoza exposes the dishonesty in the governor's Jan. 8 letter to state employees and calls for ACSS members to write the governor and tell him how you feel about the unfair burden he has placed on his state's management team. Send copies to your legislators and please copy ACSS as well. We would like to share some of your remarks.

The Sacramento Bee has published a database of whom in state government interest groups lobbied and how much they spent doing it for the first nine months of 2009. Their total outlay? $206 million.

DPA is announcing a special dental open-enrollment period from Jan. 4 through Feb. 4 to allow state workers to add same-sex spouses to their dental plans. The couples must have a valid marriage license. If the same-sex spouse is not enrolled by Feb. 4, coverage will not be offered again until the next open-enrollment period. Read the DPA memo here (pdf). Read our earlier blog post on the eligibility of same-sex couples for state benefits here.

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.

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.

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 State Worker column reports on three employees at the Victim Compensation & Government Claims Board who started an "Employees Helping Employees" program to accept donated gift cards to give to other staff members in need. The State Worker blog reports on the results of a swap meet for state workers held Nov. 14.

It's not too soon to make your reservations to attend the ACSS board meeting, Jan. 15-17 at the Embassy Suites SF Airport Burlingame. Reservation deadline is Dec. 23. Call the hotel directly at 650-342-4600 (be sure to say you're with ACSS or use the online code V-ACSS). For more information, click here.

Today is the last day as a state employee for ACSS Secretary-Treasurer Terry Sutherland. After 43 years working for the state of California, he begins his retirement Monday and, therefore, will no longer be a member of ACSS. He won't be inactive in state causes, though: The CSEA Retirees Inc. has already recruited him. Longtime ACSS member Elena Yuasa, of Chapter 513, begins her tenure as secretary-treasurer Monday. We wish the best for Terry and welcome Elena.

An ACSS member has asked us if ACSS is pursuing grievances related to the loss of Columbus Day and Lincoln’s birthday as holidays, as SEIU Local 1000 is doing. ACSS President Arlene Espinoza responded directly to this member. Click on the headline above to read her full response:

Be prepared for (yet another) temporary reduction in your income beginning Nov. 1. Under a new state law, AB 17, your state tax withholding will increase by 10 percent starting with wages earned this month. For example, if your employer has been deducting $500 in state taxes, that amount will increase to $550. The law was passed to improve the state's cash flow in the short term. Note: Your taxes do not increase; if you're entitled, you will receive the additional withholding back as part of your income tax refund next year. Employers are required to deduct taxes at the rate specified on the new state tax tables.

Director-at-Large Frank Ruffino sends this photo of ACSS executive officers speaking with Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown at the Democratic Grassroots Convention in San Diego in September. Members with Brown are Carlos Chavez, Elnora Fretwell, Olin King and Ruffino. As keynote speaker, Brown said the time for one-time fixes has passed. The e-board members also met several legislative candidates.

The Department of Personnel Administration has published its official list of holidays for excluded employees. Excluded employees are entitled to 11 holidays plus one personal holiday.

Of interest to state workers will be CalPERS' new Web site, calpersresponds.com, which sorts facts from myths on three hot topics: the pension fund's investments, state workers' pension security, and national health care reform.

ACSS members have asked us if they can take the Columbus Day holiday this year. Excluded employees -- supervisors, managers, confidentials and exempts -- will not be entitled to take Columbus Day off as a holiday and must report to work as usual or use leave credits for time off. Without bargaining rights, supervisors are subject to the governor's executive order, which was adopted as law, eliminating Columbus Day and Lincoln's Birthday as state holidays. DPA has posted this policy on its Web site. If you have questions about your specific situation, please contact your human resources department or your labor relations officer.

If you want to enroll in a CalPERS health program, change your health plan or add family members to your plan, you must do so during the annual open enrollment period, which ends Oct. 9. The CalPERS Web site contains information on choices. Overall premium increases this year have been held to 4.3 percent, the lowest increase in more than a decade. Benefits and co-payments will not change.

Reminder: Ballots for the CalPERS election must be returned by Oct. 2. Our pensions are under attack. For a CalPERS press release on the election, 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 State Worker blog reports this morning that San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charlotte Woolard tentatively ruled in favor of SEIU Local 1000, finding that state insurance code "exempt State Compensation Insurance Fund employees from the furlough." ACSS President Arlene Espinoza wrote a letter to the SCIF board demanding that any relief from furloughs be extended to its members, and the SCIF board supported ACSS' demand. The blog includes a link to the ruling and other resources.

Check out the California State Employees Association home page for information on General Council. The business agenda is here. General Council runs Thursday, Sept. 3, through Labor Day. Delegates to the council will be electing new officers and considering new resolutions.

We picked up this short item from today's State Worker blog: State workers in Utah have been working a compressed four-day workweek. They're still working 40 hours, and they haven't been furloughed. The change stems from the state's attempt to cut its energy bills. The result? A smashing success. Utah's energy use has dropped 13 percent, state workers are saving $6 million on their gas bills, and the state's greenhouse gas emissions are down by 12,000 metric tons, according to a report in Time magazine's Sept. 7 edition. Utah says it's getting calls about its 4-10 workweek from both the public and private sectors around the world.

Vice President Arlene Espinoza, right, was elected ACSS' first woman president at Delegate Assembly Sunday, July 12. She succeeds Olin King. Elnora Fretwell is the new vice president. The team of Arlene and Elnora is the first time two women have held the organization's highest offices. Both women are in Chapter 503. Terry Sutherland was reappointed secretary/treasurer, which is not a voting position. Frank Ruffino was reelected director-at-large and Carlos Chavez is alternate director-at-large, replacing Jerry Fountain. Full election results here.

Few Californians have talked with more state workers than Jon Ortiz, “The State Worker” columnist and blogger for The Sacramento Bee. Ortiz, a reporter with The Bee’s Capitol bureau, will discuss the plight of state  workers as the featured speaker at ACSS’ Delegate Assembly on Saturday, July 11, at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza in downtown Sacramento. He is scheduled to talk at 11:15 a.m. There will be plenty of time for questions. Guests are welcome. Ortiz began his column about a year ago (continue here)

As a special fund agency, the California Public Employees' Retirement System is not affected by the plan to pay some vendors and contractors with IOUs. CalPERS will issue cashable checks for all of its payments, including retiree pensions. To read the CalPERS press release, click on the headline above.

CalPERS has published the health care premium rates it has negotiated for state workers for 2010. The overall increase is 2.9 percent, the lowest in 14 years, the press release says.

Get valuable information to help you plan for your state retirement at a CalPERS retirement planning fair. The seminars are held throughout the state. The dates and places for July and August are: July 8, Hilton Concord Hotel, Concord; July 24 and 25, Sacramento Convention Center; July 30, Four Points by Sheraton in San Rafael; Aug. 13, Konocti Harbor Resort, Kelseyville. Workshop descriptions are here.

This may be no surprise to state workers, but the California Budget Project has published a report, based on Franchise Tax Board data from 2007, that shows the income gap between the wealthiest 1 percent of Californians and the middle-income taxpayers has widened. The adjusted gross income of the wealthy has nearly doubled since the early 1990s, more than eight times the increase of the middle income earners. No surprise again: Average corporate profits more than doubled during the same period and almost none of it trickled down.

One state worker, in the face of pay cuts and insults, wryly defends the general public's misimpression of state service in a Sacramento Bee opinion piece.

In an opinion piece published Monday in The Sacramento Bee, the California Budget Project's Jean Ross urges legislators to start closing the budget gap by repealing recent tax cuts quietly given to some of the big and powerful corporations. Giving corporate tax breaks while closing parks and severely cutting education represents "misguided priorities," Ross writes. The CBC posted a short response on its Web site.

The California Budget Project has published a side-by-side comparison of the governor's and Legislature's budget conference committee's budget proposals. A Sacramento Bee story discusses the two proposals and and a budget Q&A explains, as much as possible, how we got into this fix.

A Sacramento Bee editorial is calling for a freeze not only on pay raises for state workers but also on the step increases.

Members of ACSS Chapter 512 joined other constituents of Sen. Abel Maldonado (at left in photo, with ACSS labor rep Tom Considine) for a June 12 luncheon that began at Hearst Castle and included seal watching in Cambria and a tour of the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. Maldonado, a Republican, broke with his party to cast the deciding vote for the 2009-2011 budget. “It was the hardest vote in my life,” he said. “At the last minute, I said to myself, ‘California first, Abel Maldonado second,’ and I think other people should have done the same.”  There will be cuts to come, he said, but he also predicts tax increases on such items as cigarettes and alcohol. He has a 17-inch stack of mail decrying the closing of parks -- which hold a "special place" for him -- and has met with disabled people who will suffer from the proposed cuts. “The state needs to move forward in a way that makes us solvent,” Maldonado said. “We can get some good reforms in the next couple of weeks and get this state on our way.”

Two of California's top pollsters say the May 19 special election was not a referendum against more taxes, as has been interpreted, but an order to fix the budget mess, according to a Sacramento Bee article. California voters strongly favor raising taxes on pornography, cigarettes, alcohol and people who make more than $1 million a year, the pollsters say. The real message: The governor and the Legislature need to avoid delays and pass the budget.

The CalPERS Health Benefits Committee has recommended an overall 2.9 percent increase in health care premiums for 2010 -- the lowest increase in 14 years. The full board will vote on the increase today. A CalPERS release says the lower rates are partly the result of reduced use of health care services and greater use of generic drugs as well as tough negotiations by CalPERS staff.

Gov. Schwarzenegger's office has set up a Web site asking for your suggestions to save the state money: www.wastewatchers.ca.gov. You can sign your name or submit your ideas anonymously. The Sacramento Bee published a few suggestions it has received on Sunday.

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.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz reports in his Sacramento Bee blog today that Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette has affirmed his tentative ruling that Gov. Schwarzenegger's furlough order applies to employees of constitutional offices. The blog contains links to the order and a listing of how many employees are not SEIU members and, therefore, not subject to the reduced furlough when the SEIU contract is final.