Schwarzenegger's Unwelcome July Surprise
Around 200,000 state employees in California will notice an adjustment in their July paychecks — and it won’t be the kind of change they want. According to an order issued Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, these Golden State workers may receive minimum-wage pay for the month, but they’ve got an ally in Controller John Chiang, who’s prepared to offer some resistance. –KA
The Sacramento Bee:
According to a letter delivered to Controller John Chiang in late afternoon, July pay for most hourly state employees will be withheld to the minimum allowed by federal law – $7.25 an hour – and then restored once there’s a budget.
Chiang, whose office cuts state paychecks, said Thursday that he won’t follow the order unless a court tells him to.
The letter from the governor’s Department of Personnel Administration instructs Chiang to withhold employees’ pay because the state started the 2010-11 fiscal year Thursday without a budget appropriating money for payroll. Hours earlier, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially ended 17 months of furloughs for state workers.