From the LA Times: With its staff furloughed three days a month, the Franchise Tax Board -- the state's tax collector -- could lose at least $550 million over the next three years and another $372 million for the two years after that from lost revenue and the backlog of dealing with disputes and late collections.

Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the budget yesterday, but not before paring it down further and nearly decimating some programs. For a bullet-point breakdown of the budget fixes, click here. And just when you've gotten comfortable, be warned that the new plan has "plenty of landmines," is "painful but precarious" and has no "safety net."

The governor signed the budget package this morning after making additional cuts that left it in the red.

This short item from the mercurynews.com (San Jose Mercury News blog) reveals the hardships of a couple of real people behind the furlough cuts -- and of the public.

The Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert blog reports the governor has ruled out a fourth furlough day for state workers as he makes his final cuts to the state budget.

A Sacramento Bee editorial, one of a series this week, defends the state furloughs as a necessary option to save jobs but says more must be done. State service needs to be made more efficient, with better use of technology and private firms to perform basic services.

A lubricant spill July 17 -- a furlough Friday -- took nearly 12 hours to clean up because nearby Caltrans workers couldn't be reached, prompting State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz to ponder: Were the phones not answered on purpose? Another Ortiz observation: The delay to close the budget deal cost the state the same amount of money it will save from the third furlough day.

State Worker columnist Jon Ortiz writes in today's blog that the 7,000 total state job cuts the governor announced in May and this month are still on despite the budget deal. The earliest date layoffs will begin is Sept. 15. Of the 5,000 May cuts, Ortiz reports, about 1,100 employees have either transferred or left state service.

CalPERS and CalSTRS together lost nearly $100 billion in the last fiscal year from the stock market beating.The decline means taxpayers will contribute more to shore up the two funds and state workers' contributions will increase. CalPERS has already announced it will demand increased contributions. CalSTRS can't ask for higher payments but has started talking to lawmakers about passing legislation to raise the contribution amounts.

Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed yesterday on a plan to close the $26 billion budget deficit. The plan, which must be voted on by the full Legislature, shifts costs into the future and takes money from local governments. It does preserve Prop. 98, the state's constitutional guarantee for education funding, though it contains several billion dollars in cuts to education at all levels. It is expected the plan would end the need for IOUs (cbsnews.ca story). One writer who is not impressed with the budget deal is The Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters.

Cleanup of a lubricant spill near San Rafael on "furlough Friday" was delayed several hours because Caltrans workers were on furlough, The Sacramento Bee's State Worker blog reports. Traffic backed up for miles. The story was originally reported in the Marin Independent-Journal. 

Gov. Schwarzenegger has appointed former ACSS member Jerome Horton to fill Judy Chu's seat on the Board of Equalization. Chu was sworn in July 16 as a congresswoman. Horton, 52, a Democrat, served three terms in the Assembly and was an Inglewood city councilman. ACSS wrote a letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger urging he support Horton's appointment.

Julie Chapman, deputy director of labor relations for the Department of Personnel Administration, announced to employee associations and other groups Tuesday morning that the governor will eliminate another 2,000 jobs from state service. These cuts are on top of the 5,000 jobs he eliminated in May. Unlike the May cuts, these new cuts may be covered by department vacancies that already exist. The departments must notify DPA of their vacancies as soon as possible and DPA will determine which positions are eligible. Until then, the number of layoffs is not known, Chapman said. The list of targeted positions is expected to be released by the end of this month. DPA has promised to hold another conference call before notices are sent. Only general fund positions are subject to the layoff.

The Sacramento Bee's Capitol Alert blog reports that a former UCLA chancellor has asked the California Supreme Court to declare the constitutional requirement for a two-thirds vote to raise taxes invalid. The theory: When voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978, requiring the two-thirds vote, it was a "revision" of the state constitution rather than an "amendment" and, therefore, improperly approved.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass issued a statement today blasting Gov. Schwarzenegger for proposing another furlough day for state workers. She called it "the wrong direction," "a negotiating ploy," "a particularly cynical one." Read her brief statement here.