California: Governor delays order cutting workers' pay
According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will wait until Thursday to sign an order slashing state workers' pay to the federal minimum wage and laying off thousands of other employees to save money during the impasse over the state budget, a spokesman for the governor said Monday.
The governor, frustrated by the nearly monthlong impasse, had been expected to sign an executive order Monday cutting pay for about 200,000 state workers to the federal minium wage level of $6.55 an hour. Their wages would be restored with back pay when a new budget is enacted.
Also Monday, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, canceled his plans to force a budget vote on the Senate floor today, saying negotiations have been moving forward and he doesn't want to jeopardize the talks.
The two moves could take the heat off the contentious debate over the state's $17.2 billion deficit, which includes $2 billion in reserves, and could lead to a compromise soon, political observers said.
"It looks like there's enough momentum at the moment to cease fire, and to see if they can reach an agreement" said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University. "It seems they may be close, but whether close gets the deal done remains to be seen."
So far, the governor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature have been unable to strike a budget deal for the new fiscal year that began on July 1.
In addition to cutting wages of thousands of state employees, the governor's executive order, obtained by The Chronicle, also indicated that he wants to lay off nearly 22,000 seasonal and student workers....click to continue.
