Posted on 05/25/2008 8:15:30 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
The state of California's payroll is skyrocketing, even as its budget deficit has grown to billions of dollars in recent months.
In Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first four years, the total bill for state workers' salaries jumped by 37 percent, compared with a 5 percent increase in the preceding four years under then-Gov. Gray Davis, a Chronicle analysis of state payroll records shows.
One month before Schwarzenegger took office in November 2003, just eight state employees earned more than $200,000 a year working in the core state government, which excludes universities and the Legislature. In April of this year, there were nearly a thousand, according to records.
And the number of state employees making six-figure salaries has more than doubled since 2003, to nearly 15,000. ...
Some of the pay increases in recent years have been out of Schwarzenegger's control, including previously negotiated pay raises for some employee unions and court-ordered pay hikes for medical workers ...
--snip--
Legislators, gubernatorial aides and top medical professionals have received pay hikes in the last 12 months. And as the state looks at drastic cuts in many programs, the governor is proposing about $260 million in salary increases for the state's prison guards, whose pay jumped about 34 percent in five years under their previous contract.
At the same time, pay for many lower-ranking civil service workers has not kept up with the 15 percent increase in the state's consumer price index in the past four years, ... Most civil service workers saw their pay rise by only 12 percent over that time.
The winners of the payroll race seem to be the unions with the strongest political ties or those who spend big bucks on political contributions and lobbying, said Christina Lokke of California Common Cause, a good-government watchdog group.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Yes and don’t forget his proposed $5 billiion addition for prisoner health programs and his pro gay marriage stance. He worse than Davis in my opinion.
I never imagined it would turn out this way but Schwarzenegger has been a worse governer than Davis.
i read somewhere on here that he feels gay marriage will benefit the state?
No problem. Just issue more bonds and saddle today’s payroll debt on future generations of Mexicalifornians. /bs
You can’t depend on even a true conservative governor to save you. All a true conservative can do is to veto the very worst stuff passed by the legislature. The slow slide continues, but at a slower pace.
The key is the legislature...
He thinks that gays will come here for vacation marriages. Sorta like a homosexual Niagra Falls.
This clown was ballyhooed by the “But he can win and he has an (R) after his name” types here on FR.
Y’know, the same “love the one you’re with” crowd that has given us John McCain as our candidate and prop him up as a “conservative”.
Sigh. To my fellow conservatives: good luck and God bless.
APf
How can this be?
Warren Buffet is helping Ahnold.
Arnold named Warren Buffett, as his senior economic adviser.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3149305.stm
CUT OFF THE CANDY TO ILLEGALS, CUT OFF THE HUMUNGUS RETIREMENTS TO STATE EMPLOYEES, THROW OUT THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY AND HIRE MORE I.C.E AGENTS!
A no brainer Arnold.
Then add in the fact that they all can retire at 55 and get nearly their full salary. The state is broke. They want to sell the lottery..next they will sell I-5. In the meantime they are raising taxes and fees. Just wait til they try and tax the lawyers, Drs. and shrinks. That will be fun.
Sounds like California’s still a place to make a fortune.
he thinks the ceremonies, will pull the state out of its financial slump
Unfortunately, the big spending for prisoner’s health programs is due to the fact that the state lost a lawsuit. A federal judge (Thelton Henderson) appointed a federal receiver to oversee the prison health system, and it’s costing a bloody fortune. As I understand it, the receiver has basically a blank check to the state treasury to do what he deems necessary to bring the state prison’s medical care for prisoners up to “constitutional” standards. Whatever that is.
Cut all state employees salaries by 10%, every six months, until the state finances get back in control.....with no tax increases. I would bet that they get a handle on it real quick. Along with that, no benefits, of any kind, for illegals.
American Government: Providing middleclass incomes to unemployables for 200 years!
Californians keep getting the government they deserve.
The only (tiny) consolation is that the honest, hardworking aware taxpayer is better equiped to weather the disaster when the **** hits the fan.
This is why I don’t vote for Rino’s who are the lesser of two evils. Often times, they are worse because they have no constraints. A Dem governor would have to be sensitive to Republicans blasting them over wasteful spending. A RINO doesn’t have to deal with that because the Dems love the spending, and the GOP won’t attack their own.
Same thing happend with W.
I bet these people couldn't do much better than a minimum wage job in the private sector
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.