Thread: Schwarzenegger: Calif lawmakers protecting unions

Schwarzenegger: Calif lawmakers protecting unions

By JUDY LIN, The Associated Press
10:58 a.m. July 2, 2009

SACRAMENTO — California's Democratic-led Legislature is putting union interests over taxpayers' well-being, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday as the state prepared to issue IOUs for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The Republican governor said Democrats have resisted reforms he believes must be part of solving the state's $26.3 billion shortfall.

"It steps on the turf of the people they want to protect," Schwarzenegger said during a press conference in Los Angeles. "At some point, it has to be Judgment Day. Who do we protect?"

The governor recently proposed changes to cut state employees' pensions and adopt fraud-prevention measures for in-home caregivers. Democrats have criticized Schwarzenegger for including long-term policy changes as part of budget negotiations.

He also has ordered some 235,000 state employees to take a third day off a month without pay, a move that would cut their pay by 14 percent.

Schwarzenegger says the Legislature's failure to pass a balanced budget revision sent a message that they expect Californians to make sacrifices but will not do the same.

"We have to get rid of the waste. We cannot promise things to people that we can't deliver," Schwarzenegger said.

Lawmakers passed a budget in February for the fiscal year that began Wednesday, but a sharp decline in tax revenue quickly put it out balance.

The national recession has battered California's economy, leading to record-high unemployment and a 34 percent drop in personal income tax revenue during the first five months of the year.

With far less money flowing to the state, Democrats have found it difficult to protect core social programs and the jobs overseen by the public employee unions that make hefty donations to their campaigns.

At the same time, Schwarzenegger and Republican lawmakers refuse to raise taxes beyond those already increased in February. It's not clear how the sides will compromise to close budget shortfall.

The state controller is scheduled to begin printing IOUs Thursday afternoon after lawmakers failed earlier this week to address the deficit. With revenue running well short of the state's spending obligations, California does not have sufficient cash to meet all its payment obligations.

The IOUs primarily will affect the thousands of small businesses that contract with the state for a variety of services, from providing office supplies to cleaning services.

Lawmakers' failure to act before the fiscal year ended Tuesday widened the state's problem by $2 billion, in large part of because of the state's complex education funding formula.

On Wednesday, the governor declared a fiscal state of emergency and ordered most state offices to close three days a month to conserve cash.
Schwarzenegger said Thursday he would not sign any bill that comes to his desk unless it pertains to the budget. Under the fiscal emergency order, if the Legislature

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It's a different story different to me......?

I can't believe that Arnold is just getting it about Obama and his precious Union Mobsters!

With far less money flowing to the state, Democrats have found it difficult to protect core social programs and the jobs overseen by the public employee unions that make hefty donations to their campaigns.

These are exactly the things that CA NEEDS to drop!