Sometime this week, you will notice the ACSS Web site has an updated, brighter look. We have been working for some time to freshen our design as well as to resolve display issues with some browsers.

The new design accomplishes those things and gives us more flexibility for future updates. Let us know how you like our new look and contact us if you have any problems.

If you want to enroll in CalPERS health care, add new dependents or otherwise change your coverage, you must do so between Sept. 13 and Oct. 8. Adult children now can be covered until they are 26. Coverage will be effective Jan. 1, 2011. CalPERS premiums will increase an average of 9.1 percent. For more information, check the CalPERS open enrollment Web site and open enrollment news pdf.

ACSS members: ACSS' October quarterly board meeting is being moved to Sacramento from Palm Springs. Dates: Oct. 15-17. Call 1-800-HOLIDAY or 916-446-0100 for reservations (use "ACSS group" to get the room discount). Please reserve by Sept. 10. If you made a reservation in Palm Springs, you will need to cancel it. ACSS cannot cancel individual reservations.

Mike Carbahal of Chapter 504 has started a chapter Web site you might want to check out, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHAPTER504/. This is a great way to enhance communications within the chapter and between chapters, as our Strategic Plan is requring.

ACSS met today with the Department of Personnel Administration to present our demands for this budget session on behalf of our members. Read the report from that meet and confer here.

ACSS is joining the other CSEA affiliates in asking members to write to their legislators urging them to return to Sacramento to vote for Assembly Bill 1699. AB 1699 is the continuous appropriation bill that would ensure all state workers be paid their full salaries until the budget is passed. We have provided a letter at our Legislative Action Center that you may use or replace with one of your own. It automatically goes to your representatives. The important thing is to send something! It is unconscionable to pay state workers less than they have earned.

Chapter 513 made a great connection with Assemblywoman Lori Saldana at a Padres game/fundraiser July 1. ACSS members were able to talk at length with Saldana, who is running for state Senate, reports Chapter 513/PAC member Richard Snyder. As guests in Saldana's reserved box at the July 1 Padres game, the members were able to spend most of the evening with her, discussing ACSS concerns, educating her about our issues and getting her input on the budget. Saldana agreed to attend a future Chapter 513 meeting. In photo from left: Chapter President Arlene Ryan, Vice President Patricia O'Neil, PAC Chairman Frank Ruffino, Saldana and Snyder.

In ACSS' meet and confer with DPA Monday, Deputy Director Julie Chapman told board and staff members the 5 percent permanent pay cut has been taken off the bargaining table. DPA is asking for the additional 5 percent retirement contribution, a salary cut of one day a month in exchange for a PLP day with no cash-out value (for next year only) and an additional 5 percent cap on workforce budgets (which would not affect employees' salaries). A few revenue-generating agencies, such as the Franchise Tax Board, would be exempt from the workforce cap. DPA also supports the two-tier retirement plan, with a scaled-back version for new hires only, and is offering to add a 5 percent step increase at the top of each salary range as mitigation. Read more in our meet and confer eblast.

ACSS' political action committee application is posted as a PDF under "Join ACSS" for you to print and mail in. Our PAC,led by Chairman Frank Ruffino, gives ACSS members direct access to the lawmakers who can make a difference in your salaries and working conditions.

ACSS has added a new button to its home page: "Legislation and Politics." With this site, you can now follow ACSS' political activity, the bills we're monitoring and hearings and other meetings we or our lobbyist will attend.

CalPERS' actuarial office is reviewing the assumptions used to calculate the cost of buying additional retirement service credits to see if the purchase price should be changed. The cost is based on such actuarial criteria as retirement age, life expectancy and future salary. The actuarial office will report its findings to the board in June. It is possible that these service credits – which increase the number of years retirement is based on – then could cost more. State workers won the right to purchase service credits in the 2003-204 legislative session.

The ACSS board of directors at its meeting April 17 endorsed Attorney General Jerry Brown for governor and Assemblywomen Alyson Huber of Sacramento and El Dorado counties and Noreen Evans of Santa Rosa in their bids for reelection. ACSS political action committee chairman Frank Ruffino attended the state Democratic convention April 16-18 in Los Angeles and met with Brown and several other candidates on ACSS' behalf. The association will make additional endorsements as they analyze the races. (Photo: Lou Delgado, SpotLight Photography)

ACSS board members met with Attorney General Jerry Brown, the presumed Democratic candidate for governor, in a private meeting in March. The group also attended a Brown fundraiser, and President Arlene Espinoza and PAC Chairman Frank Ruffino were guests of the AG at a small dinner. "He was relly interested in what we had to say," Ruffino said. From left: ACSS head Mitch Semer, Ruffino, Brown, Vice President Elnora Fretwell and Espinoza.

ACSS members: If you're planning to attend ACSS' quarterly board meeting in Las Vegas April 16-18, you have until Wednesday, March 31, to make your discounted hotel reservation. All Bally's hotel at 800-634-3434 and give them this code: SBACS0 (that’s a zero). You must be authorized by your chapter to have your expenses reimbursed.

SEIU Local 1000, the plaintiffs in the successful lawsuit to exempt non-general fund state workers from the furlough, has posted a list of the agencies that will be affected by the ruling.

CalPERS recently held two one-day forums examining the state of California's public pensions and analyzing ideas for ensuring future retirement security. The discussions addressed how to provide members with adequate and secure retirement benefits that are also affordable for employers. These discussions are now availble online. You can view them at http://www.calpersresponds.com/issues.php/California-Retirement-Dialogue.

CalPERS members' long-term care premiums are increasing this month. CalPERS, sensitive to the economic hard times for state workers, is offering options that will allow the members who want to save money to customize their plan, including decreasing benefit levels and reducing the benefit period . If you have questions about the increase, or to discuss the options, call a special toll-free number 888-877-4934 during working hours.

President Arlene Espinoza writes about Lobby Day and ACSS' political future in her newest Report.

In this critical budget year, it's important to get your Lobby Day message out to your legislators effectively. ACSS' Talking Points help you organize your visit and prepare your information.

For ACSS members, it's not too early to make your reservations for ACSS' next quarterly board meeting in Las Vegas. Dates: April 16-18. Hotel: Bally's, 3645 Las Vegas Blvd. South (800-634-3434 or www.ballyslasvegas.com). Deadline to get the ACSS room discount is March 25. The board meeting begins with committee meetings, including the new time for the Presidents Forum, at 2 p.m. Friday, April 16. If you are authorized by your chapter (under "Contact" tab) to attend, ACSS will reimburse you for your room and travel expenses.

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.

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.

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.

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.