CalPERS yesterday approved an increase in health insurance premiums next year for its public employees of more than 9 percent. The pension plan blamed rising costs for hospital care, doctor visits and prescriptions. Last year, the average premium for a family was $13, 375 a year.The new costs are here. 

Today is the last day of furloughs under the governor's current executive order. However, the governor could order more furloughs in the case of another fiscal emergency. The total work time missed from furloughs so far? The Sacramento Bee calculates it as a month and a half.

Four state worker unions – CHP, Department of Forestry Firefighters, Association of Psychiatric Technicians and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – have agreed to proposed contracts that would offer less generous pension benefits to new hires and hike all employee pension contributions. The move is predicted to save the state $72 million. The governor issued a press release on the agreements.

The Department of Finance Bulletin for June points to a state economy that is improving and may have bottomed out. "A resurgent labor force" has "pulled discouraged people back into the labor market," the report says. The labor force expansion was the strongest one-month gain since March 1990.

From The State Worker: A state appeals court has agreed with the lower court's ruling that furloughing State Compensation Insurance Fund employees violated state insurance code. The original case was filed and won by SEIU Local 1000 and Gov. Schwarzenegger appealed. Story includes a link to the decision.

CalPERS has posted a short Q&A on its Web site discussing the changes you will see in health coverage. Basically, your dependents will be covered until they are 26, lifetime and annual limits will be eliminated and the temporary early retirees reinsurance program will be implemented.

Assembly Bill 1699, which would allow state employees to be paid during late budget negotiations, has passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee and moves to the Assembly. If the measure passes the Assembly (deadline is June 4), it would still have to be approved in the Senate. Without the bill, state workers face receiving no wages or the federal minimum wage if the budget is delayed. The money is eventually reimbursed. Blog item includes link to bill text.

From The Sacramento Bee: The California Supreme Court has ordered union and government attorneys to argue a case that Schwarzenegger lost even though no one had asked the court to review it. The ower courts ruled the governor violated a narrow provision of the state insurance code when he furlough 500 legal staff at the State Compensation Insurance Fund. ACSS had joined a similar lawsuit that ruled the furloughs were illegal for about 7,500 other SCIF workers. The opening arguments must be filed by June 9.

Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, was inaugurated today. Read his speech through a link on The State Worker. Here's one excerpt: "So when the question is asked: Now what? The answer must be: Create jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs! It is the first domino we have to knock over to get everything else into place." Maldonado has been supportive of state workers and ACSS.

Steve Poizner and Meg Whitman, Republican candidates for governor, debated in San Jose Sunday night. Among their interesting comments were these to do with state workers (as quoted by The Sacramento Bee): Poizner: "We have to fundamentally change our compensation structure for public employees. They're great people … but the unions have taken advantage of their power. … I'd like all public employees to have even their current compensation tied to the health of the economy." Whitman:  "This is the train coming down the track at every single Californian. … It's not fair to ask non-government employees to fund these lavish benefits."

The State Worker blog and other news sources today report on a study released today that showed state and local government employees are better educated but earn less than their private-sector counterparts. Public-sector benefits narrow the gap somewhat don't close it.

In response to the suggestion that California could dramatically reduce state employment with minimal impact on services, the California Budget Project has published a report detailing the breakdown in the state's workforce. The findings: More than half the state's workforce is employed in public safety and education, primarily universities.

Are furloughs and labor turmoil pushing state workers into retirement? The number of Californians who began retirement in January increased more than 30 percent over January 2009, and in all of 2009, state retirements were up almost 18 percent from 2008. Still, with 21,000 workers starting state jobs last year, the state work force shrank by only 1,666 employees. An audit estimates half the state's supervisors and managers could leave by 2016.

AB790, a bill that would have continued state workers' pay if the budget does not pass by the deadline, was defeated in the Senate today. The vote fell four short of the two-thirds majority needed for the "urgency" measure to pass. The bill had already passed the Assembly.

State Controller John Chiang's monthly report for March showed receipts above projections and expenditures below. The positive result is dampened, however, by the state's jobless rate and the reduced person income tax revenues. "The road to recovery will be long and arduous," Chiang said in his press release.