California OKs Taxinator Plan to Pay State Employees Minimum Wage
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
The state has until the end of the month to come up with a budget plan or will be forced to pay thousands of state employees minimum wage ($7.25) until it does. While some might argue our state employees could have used a pay cut quite some time ago and may be partially to blame for our budget troubles, I’m not sure this is the way to go about fixing our broken budget. If and when Sacramento does figure out a budget, state employees will be due back pay. For now, however, it’s looking like a rough summer for some.
A state appeals court ruled Friday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can reduce state workers’ pay to the federal minimum wage when the state budget is late.
The ruling comes a day after the governor ordered the pay of nearly 200,000 state employees to be reduced to $7.25 an hour until a budget is passed, but State Controller John Chiang, who issues the paychecks, has said he would not obey the order.
The ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeals centers on a 2008 case, when during a similar budget impasse Schwarzenegger ordered state workers’ be paid the federal minimum wage.
John Chiang obviously doesn’t want his house burned down but Schwarzenegger could care less, before long he won’t have to worry about any of this crap and will be getting fat on the ranch far far away from Sacramento and all the drama that comes with.
