Californians have probably already heard this but I wanted to share this with anyone else who is following California's budgetary woes and the so-called solution that Gov. Schwarzenegger came up with. Plus, California's state controller is Asian!

Crooks and Liars has some information about a conference call between Chiang, CA Rep. Hilda Solis and a union president whose constituents will be heavily affected by the proposed salary cuts. Interested parties can RSVP to participate in the call.

The below article is from sacbee.com

Controller: State computer system not up to making pay cuts
By Kevin Yamamura - kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published 10:50 am PDT Monday, August 4, 2008

State Controller John Chiang said Monday an antiquated state computer system makes it impossible to adjust the state payroll quickly to issue minimum-wage checks to state workers. He said it would take at least six months to make the change.

The Democratic controller has vowed to defy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order directing the state to pay workers the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour until a budget agreement is reached. He has previously asserted that the Republican governor's order is based on an untested 2003 state Supreme Court legal opinion and that he will continue issuing full paychecks to state employees.

But in a meeting with The Bee Capitol Bureau on Monday, Chiang said that even if Schwarzenegger's legal reasoning were sound, the state could not logistically retool its outdated payroll system in a matter of weeks, as the governor has asked. If the change were eventually made, Chiang also said it would take an additional nine to 10 months to issue checks to employees for their full back pay.

"Pragmatically, we just can't get the system to work in a timely manner for us to implement payment of minimum wage," Chiang said.

He warned that changing payroll so quickly could also lead to errors that leave the state vulnerable to lawsuits from workers and triple penalties known as "treble damages."

Schwarzenegger said last week his executive order is necessary to preserve cash, ensure the state can pay its bills in September and avoid heavy borrowing costs. Chiang again challenged that view, asserting that the state will have enough cash to pay its bills and that the order will do nothing to prevent the state from incurring any more heavy borrowing costs than it would otherwise.

"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."

- Malcolm X -

I've never cared for Arnold, when he was an actor and certainly not a politician. There's just something about that man I don't like.

I certainly think this pay cut is a bad way to handle budgetary woes of the state. "Oh, we can fix this problem, by starving the already low income families working for the state!" How does anyone live in California or anywhere on $6.55/hour?

Here's a question for all the California peeps: How do you like having Arnold as your governor?

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
True love will withstand ignorant eyes...

Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages
of the Starship Enterprise...

True, most of CA govt agencies still run their applications (like payroll) off mainframe computers and the programming hasn't changed much since they were 1st put in.

A lesser evil than having Bush as president.

to be fair, california's infrastructure was fucked to begin with. our budget deficit is beyond ridiculous (a unfortunate trend during these times) and if you've ever driven on the streets in los angeles, you'll know exactly what i'm talking about. pot hole city.

when he first got elected, i thought it was a mockery of our political process, because the only thing arnold had ever done was pump weights and inform audiences that he'd be back.

but i like how he took the initiative in pushing for higher vehicular gas standards well beyond federal levels. he's certainly not perfect, but has shown the ability to work with both democrats and republicans in the state legislature. i read somewhere that he's in the running to potentially become barak obama's energy czar. i guess it shows it doesn't necessarily matter where you come from, but what you do once you get there.

this particular issue is a difficult one to judge, because you're kinda screwed either way. hard choices. i don't envy him.

"illusions michael! tricks are something a whore does for money. [off shocked children] I mean...candy!"

-gob bluth, arrested development