Governor prepares to send out 20,000 pink slips (California)

[depakid]

Source: LA Times

In addition to shutting down public-works projects, Schwarzenegger administration moves toward massive state layoffs as legislators continue to seek the one GOP vote needed to pass a budget.
-------------

Reporting from Sacramento -- In an apparent effort to increase pressure on lawmakers negotiating an end to California's fiscal crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is preparing to send pink slips to 20,000 state workers. The governor had delayed sending the layoff notices since Friday, hoping lawmakers would soon approve a package to close a nearly $41-billion budget gap. But despite intense negotiations since Saturday, Schwarzenegger and the Senate Democratic majority have been unable to secure a third Republican vote for a plan that includes more than $14 billion in new taxes.

The governor has a responsibility to do everything he can to cut government spending," said Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's spokesman. He "understands how difficult these decisions are, which is why the legislators need to pass a budget as quickly as possible." Schwarzenegger's move is the second in which state workers have felt the impact of the crisis, following his decision forcing them to take two days a month off without pay. He has since reached a contract deal with a union representing 95,000 employees to cut the furlough days to once a month, although the workers have yet to ratify it.

With his layoff plan, Schwarzenegger hopes to eliminate 10,000 jobs, but is sending out more notices in case the state meets with obstacles, legal or otherwise, in laying off certain workers. Layoffs can take about six months to implement, because of union contracts and other required steps. Because of the time lag, some of the jobs could be cut through attrition instead of layoffs. Overall, the plan would save the state $750 million a year, McLear said.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget17-2009feb17,0,1851008.story

---

Cutting that $40 billion in federal revenue sharing to the states isn't looking like a very smart move....

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. I'll bet Gray Davis

is having a seriously big laugh right about now.

Nice move on the part of Darrell Issa and the GOPigs in ousting a legitimately elected governor so as to install the Terminator, who's done such a bang-up job, hasn't he?

[Maat]

2. Screw you, Arnold.

This Californian can't wait until you are OUT OF OFFICE.

[XemaSab]

3. One in 5 state workers

Appalling. Just appalling. x(

[Journeyman]

4. Forget the 20,000 -- just fire all State employees in Dave Cox's district. . .

put pressure where it will do some good. How long would it be before the villagers with torches and pitchforks convinced that idiot to do the right thing?

But several hours after voting on the package of 27 bills began Saturday night, the momentum stalled. Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), who Democrats say indicated in private talks he was prepared to vote for the budget plan put together by the governor and legislative leaders, announced he would not support it. A spokeswoman for Cox said the senator was never on board with the budget plan.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget15-2009feb15,0,278140.story

[Joe Bacon]

5. IMPEACH ARNOLD!

This ass has driven the state to its knees. Arnold is the most incompetent asshole who has ever been governor. He's been totally incompetent from the start!

Sure am glad he's term-limited!

[kimmylavin]

6. What a freaking mess.

This is what happens when you vote for someone because its FUNNY.

[4lbs]

7. Looks like the Obama Administration and Congress need to get cracking on a $300 billion

state rescue loan package.

[DBoon]

9. Looks like some angry Californians need to get cracking on some legislators

nt

[4lbs]

10. No matter what deal or compromise they come up with, tens of thousands of state workers will

lose their jobs, and the CA school system (and universities too) will get even worse.

Thank you CA Prop 13 (1978). :sarcasm:

[alexandria]

13. I guess you do not own a house?eom

[DBoon]

14. I own a house and prop 13 is a terrorist weapon in my opinion

It is a pure trojan horse, disguised as homeowner tax relief, when its true intent is to "drown government in a bathtub"

Prop 13 has done more damage to California's public infrastructure than Al Queda could dream of

And once again, yes, I am a California homeowner.

[4lbs]

16. Me too.

It's more than coincidental that CA's school system, once of the nation's best in the 1970s began it's gradual decline after Prop 13 passed.

Prop 13 cut the amount of property taxes that the state got. By the late 1980s, CA's school system fell into the low 40s in ranking, when it used to be top 5 just a decade earlier.

[DBoon]

23. It also made it absolutely impossible to raise property taxes

and choked off all other sources of funding.

Prop 13 wasn't about homeowner property tax relief - it was a calculated experiment in destroying local government.

[4lbs]

25. True. The amount that property taxes could be raised annually was at most 2%, which was often

lower than the rate of inflation for most of the years after Prop 13 passed.

This is apart from the initial assessment limit of 1% of the value of the property at the point of sale.

That means, even if property taxes were raised gradually, it was usually not enough to cover the rate of inflation. For example, the inflation rate for the last decade has often exceeded 2.2%.

Therefore, CA was getting ever less buying power and value for the money with the property taxes it was getting each year, even if it raised property taxes by the 2% annual limit.

[alexandria]

17. I am sorry who are you?

[DBoon]

22. I am a California homeowner and a long time DU member

What else do you need to know?

[alexandria]

38. Well so am i.

I pay enough taxes as it is ,and do not want to pay more.
If they bring back prop 13,i will not be able to afford my house, and will have to sell even though our family have owned the house for 40 yrs.

[DBoon]

8. Maybe republican legislators should hand these out in person

and explain to each individual who is losing their job why it is very importnant to never ever compromise on raising taxes

[llmart]

11. But at least......

they don't have to pay those high license plate fees.

The stupid Californians who thought it would be "so cool" to have him as governor get what they deserve.

[kestrel91316]

15. Don't blame me. I supported bland but relatively harmless Gray Davis.

[llmart]

18. Well, I'm guessing you have a brain.....

since you're here at DU:)

I would never blame anyone who at least puts some thought and consideration in their vote. I have a cousin who lives in San Francisco and she was all giddy about voting for Ahnold just because she thought it'd be funny. There are way too many people in this country who don't take their vote seriously enough.

[johnfunk]

12. Time for a recall election to remove Gröpenführer Ahnuld

... don'tcha think?

[Mr. Hyde]

19. What should he do, put a gun to the legislature's head?

[mike_c]

20. it's cheap and easy to blame Schwarzenegger for California's budget crisis...

...but not accurate. ANY governor would be in his position-- or one very nearly like it-- given the current economic conditions AND California's dysfunctional budgeting process. Two of the biggest impediments to solving this crisis are the need for a two-thirds majority to pass a budget and Proposition 13-- both dearly loved by California republicans and virtual sacred cows, utterly untouchable. I'll bet Arnold would give his right testicle to be rid of the former impediment immediately.

[slackmaster]

21. In spite of the 2/3 requirement and other provisions of Proposition 13, we've had surpluses

But never saved a dime of the extra revenue to hold us over through lean times.

Our taxes are already the highest in the nation. But we're stuck in a situation where there doesn't seem to be any reasonable alternative to raising them.

[Winterblues]

24. The First Pink slip should go to State Legislators and then all those in the Administration.

Maybe that would be a little added incentive to solving the current crisis.

[Tab]

26. California, Almost Broke, Nears Brink

Source: NY Times

LOS ANGELES — The state of California — its deficits ballooning, its lawmakers intransigent and its governor apparently bereft of allies or influence — appears headed off the fiscal rails.

Since the fall, when lawmakers began trying to attack the gaps in the $143 billion budget that their earlier plan had not addressed, the state has fallen into deeper financial straits, with more bad news coming daily from Sacramento. The state, nearly out of cash, has laid off scores of workers and put hundreds more on unpaid furloughs. It has stopped paying counties and issuing income tax refunds and halted thousands of infrastructure projects.

The Schwarzenegger administration sent out notices on Tuesday that 20,000 state jobs were being eliminated. Ten-thousand of those workers would be assigned to new jobs, said Matt David, the communications director Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and 10,000 people would be laid off. The notices were sent by United States mail, but the actual process of laying people off takes about six months, Mr. David said.

In addition, the state, citing a lack of money, shut down 276 highway, prison and other infrastructure programs that had been exempted from an earlier halting of projects because of budget problems.

California has also lost access to much of the credit markets, nearly unheard of among state municipal bond issuers. Recently, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the state’s bond rating to the lowest in the nation.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/us/18calif.html?ref=us

[Cleita]

27. Thank you Arnold. So much for opening the books and finding the "waste".

Time to go Arnold while you still have some pride left. Time to resign and let the professionals, who know how to run California, take over.

[CreekDog]

33. Whitman is running on that same platform

no tax increases, streamline to save money, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

if they are going to run on that kind of rhetoric, they could at least do magic tricks on the stump --that would at least give me some hope that they could pull off their rhetoric.

[pinto]

28. We're in a mess, no doubt about it. As bad as the budget compromise is, it only lacks one vote.

Opinion here on the Central Coast is that Maldanado, once considered a moderate (R) possibility to get a budget passed, caved to the extremist (R) leadership, who are holding the budget hostage under the state's 2/3 vote standard to pass a budget.

Tax increases in the budget are basically a 12c increase on gasoline taxes, a 1c/per 100 increase on sales taxes and a reasonable per cent increase on income taxes. Those *coupled* with cuts to spending and state safety net programs, which may or not be offset be federal Economic Recovery funds.

The extremist (R) ideological approach over effective compromise to come to a budget agreement grows old and increasingly damaging to he state's economy from the top down. From our state's credit rating to our cash flow for day to day expenses.

It's a shame.

[pinto]

29. See also -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=141&topic_id=33515&mesg_id=33515

[Median Democrat]

30. Proposition 13 v. Proposition 98 - Supermajority War

I have to admit, I am almost curious to see what happens if the GOP gets its wish, and forces the State to solve the $41 billion deficit entirely through spending cuts. You would have to cut all state funding to UC and CSU system, fire all correctional employees and the California Highway patrol. In other words, we may get a Republican utopia similar to Iraq.

Then again, like Proposition 8, this will be entirely a voter created mess. They passed the propositions that lead to this mess, then they elected 1/3 Republicans to complete the mess. The dirty secret is that California's State legislators don't have much discretion in raising taxes or cutting spending due to the automatic mandates and supermagority requirements.

We should probably recall everyone, but the replacemetns would still be left with a mess of a California Constitution that has been messed with beyond recognition.

[CreekDog]

35. Prop. 98 is not holding this up

because the mandated education funding can be suspended.

they could cut school funding more than they have so far, but our funding was already at 47th per capita before these cuts will take effect. it's not some law mandating higher funding, it's our self-respect.

so it's not really Prop. 98. like i said, i know it *seems* like it is, but many just don't have the stomach to cut school funding (thank God) as much as the law allows.

all that said, Prop. 13 is definetely the problem. they will need to put something on the ballot to fix this next year (2/3 requirement and some change in the 2% cap on commercial and/or residential property taxes).

you can't run a government predicated on essentially 2%+ increase in government spending in built-out communities with little turnover while inflation is historically much more than that.

[CreekDog]

34. Seems like the created this budget to have state tax hikes offset by federal tax cuts

so that it would be a wash for most Californians.

[aquamarina]

31. Wow, and II seem to remember that Gray Davis

was recalled for a budget deficit of a mere $9 billion.

[Piewhacket]

32. CA is sinking.... we'ss a goin down ... evil repukes... glub glub...

"California legislators returned to the Capitol Monday in an effort to close
a $40 billion hole in the state's budget, still one Republican vote short of
approving a package that contains $14.3 billion in tax increases."
Sac Bee - February 16 2009 http://www.sacbee.com/budget/story/1628025.html

[pinto]

36. Kick.

:kick:

[NuttyFluffers]

37. well, the GOP is getting what they want...

foresaw this when Arnie was musing to run and impeachment of Davis was circulating. now it comes to pass. let's see if my state will learn anything... i have high hopes for the coast, but who knows whether the rest of the state will learn that it's the republicans that are screwing them over.

[Javaman]

39. and Gray Davis was recalled, why? nt