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Schwarzenegger: No more bills until the budget is done { Veto everything!}
Sacramento Bee ^ | 8/6/8 | Amy Chance and Kevin Yamamura

Posted on 08/06/2008 11:11:52 PM PDT by SmithL

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he will refuse to sign any bills that reach his desk until the Legislature sends him a budget agreement.

"At this point, nothing in this building is more important than a responsible budget to fix our broken budget system," he said at a hastily called afternoon press conference. "So until the Legislature passes a budget that I can sign, I will not sign any bills that reach my desk."

Schwarzenegger acknowledged that his decision "means some good bills will fail." But he said with a cash crisis looming, the late budget takes on even greater urgency.

The Republican governor last week signed an executive order with an apology to state workers to reduce their pay to minimum wage until a budget is signed, blaming the action on the Legislature's failure to reach agreement on a state budget. But the state controller has said the state's antiquated budget system makes that threat largely empty, because the payroll changes could not be made for months.

Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are in their 37th day of a budget stalemale, disagreeing over how to close a $15.2 billion shortfall in the state's general fund.

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol this week with slightly more than 1,000 bills to act upon before the two-year session ends Aug. 31, according to the Assembly speaker's office.

The governor's threat may have little impact. The Senate and Assembly can pass bills and hold them at their desks until they pass a budget. Most bills do not become law until Jan. 1, so a summer delay would have no practical effect.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: budget; calbudget; callegislature; schwarzenegger; veto; yourtaxdollarsatwork
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he will refuse to sign any bills that reach his desk until the Legislature sends him a budget agreement.


Listen to the entire statement here.

1 posted on 08/06/2008 11:11:52 PM PDT by SmithL
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To: SmithL

Funny, meaningless stuff from the Taxinator.


2 posted on 08/06/2008 11:18:45 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: SmithL

Well, something should be done to force the hand of the legislature to do their consitutional duty and pass a budget.

Since virtually all legislation has a price tag attached, any bills they pass and send to Arnold probably wouldn’t take effect anyway without the budgeted money to spend.


3 posted on 08/06/2008 11:20:00 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: SmithL

Perhaps cutting the legislators wages to minimum would get the desired result? Heck cut it off entirely.


4 posted on 08/06/2008 11:26:55 PM PDT by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))
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To: Lancey Howard

Good news - the government is out of commission for a while.

But it won’t last - he’s caved on everything else.


5 posted on 08/06/2008 11:44:40 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...

Make my day / read my lips / girly-man kinda thing.


6 posted on 08/07/2008 12:02:46 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile hasn't been updated since Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: aquila48
But it won’t last - he’s caved on everything else.

Yes. As a matter of fact, he has.

7 posted on 08/07/2008 12:18:27 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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Anti-Business States Awash In Red Ink
Real Clear Markets | August 06, 2008 | Steven Malanga
Posted on 08/06/2008 7:04:34 AM PDT by Malone LaVeigh
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2057377/posts

Recall Pelosi Now
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/recall-nancy-pelosi | 8/06/2008 | MJ
Posted on 08/06/2008 8:46:46 PM PDT by bayladie
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2057839/posts


8 posted on 08/07/2008 12:25:52 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______Profile hasn't been updated since Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: SmithL
The governor's threat may have little impact.

As usual.

Arnold blowing more hot air.

9 posted on 08/07/2008 12:33:38 AM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: SmithL
Thanks for the link. I hope he holds his ground. Having the controller refuse to comply with an executive order to cut pay is just one indication of the contempt state unions and Legisrats have towards the citizens who pay their checks.

I remember the venom that spewed within minutes of Arnold's winning the election, with the rat side stating catagorically that they would not work with him.

Time to start reffering to these perfumed princes as the girlymen they are, Gov, or you will only be remembered as a spot on the road as California's economy collapses AGAIN.

10 posted on 08/07/2008 12:40:10 AM PDT by 4woodenboats ( MEJA is FUBAR DefendOurMarines.org DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: SmithL

Bluster.


11 posted on 08/07/2008 1:21:58 AM PDT by Impy (Spellcheck hates Obama, you should too.)
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To: 4woodenboats
Having the controller refuse to comply with an executive order to cut pay is just one indication of the contempt state unions and Legisrats have towards the citizens who pay their checks.

He refused because he is not able to do it. It's an archaic payroll system, written in COBOL, covering over 200,000 employees. Chiang made the right call on this. You can't track the labor of 200,000+ employees, accrue and pay wages, taxes, and other benefits, on varying wage amounts, on the back of an envelope. There is a reason payroll systems cost millions to upgrade or replace--they are very complex.

12 posted on 08/07/2008 2:12:02 AM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: calcowgirl
Exactly. And by the time Chiang executed the order, there would probably be a budget in place. He made the right call on this. The state simply cannot break contractual obligations. It can go to the unions and ask them to agree to take a pay cut but it can't unilaterally terminate a contract even when it holds good. If you make a deal, honor it. Is that what Red Arnold wants to teach our children - they shouldn't keep their word? And he's not doing what needs to be done - cut spending! All we've heard from him to date is a lot of smoke and hot air!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

13 posted on 08/07/2008 2:37:54 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: SmithL

I say lock the legislators in a big room and keep them there until they pass the budget.

5 days without a budget, tear off the roof and make them work and sleep in the open.

10 days, throw Maria Shriver in the room

15 days, throw Arnold in.

17 days, throw Rosie O’Donnell in the room.

20 days, stop feeding them. (Nothing more dangerous than a starving Rosie.)

25 days, stop paying them.


14 posted on 08/07/2008 2:45:23 AM PDT by PanzerKardinal
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To: calcowgirl
I disagree with your assertion that changing an old COBOL payroll system is not possible.

I developed & supported payroll systems for 20+ years, in several languages including COBOL. Most included union workers, as well as salaried & hourly employees.

Changing all workers (or select groups) to hourly, non-exempt, minimum wage would be a piece of cake! The number of employees is irrelevant.

I did it every year for multiple payrolls when the union contracts changed. Often, it had to be done in days, as a late or incorrect union payroll cost the company big bucks in penalties. Kalifornia MUST have to do the same thing every year as well. Plus, tax rules change every year, so they must be implemented as well. I suspect they have a large, experienced support staff for this very thing.

The more difficult change will be to RESTORE employees to their former payroll status AFTER these political problems are solved. But, with a copy of employee records prior to the minimum wage change, the programming is more difficult, but doable. That code, BTW, can be written & tested during the minimum wage period, & ready to run when needed.

I realize that there will be problems with employees wanting to change their elective deductions because of the drastic drop in pay. The existing system & support can handle these problems & most others.

The hotshots out there in CA cyberworld might not speak COBOL, but I suspect there are quite a few old guys in CA that can do this project in their sleep!

15 posted on 08/07/2008 5:45:57 AM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: PeaceBeWithYou

Why penalize state workers who have no control over the budget? I realize the symbolism of it but if the governor had wanted to make a real impact on recalcitrant legislators, he should start by taking away all the state cars and gas credit cards of the legislators, then the per diems. Let me feel what it is like to be common working stiffs who have to pay their own car payments, insurance premiums and pump charges. That alone would save millions.


16 posted on 08/07/2008 6:36:52 AM PDT by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things)
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To: Mister Da
Changing all workers (or select groups) to hourly, non-exempt, minimum wage would be a piece of cake!

But that's not all they need to do.

They would need to track both old and new salary amounts, ultimately relying of some hybrid of each to support other financial reporting. And the "minimum wage" edict doesn't apply to all employees. For certain employees, they would be paid nothing... for others, full pay... and yet others, minimum wage--at either $6.55 or $11.38, depending on their position. Original pay would still need to be recorded and be the basis for calculating tax withholding amounts since the liability has been realized. But then a check would need to be based (partially) on an alternative amount. It's not just a matter of changing their pay scale, their withholding, or a job code. It's a matter of tracking both the old amount (on which they will be paid once the budget is settled and would be the basis for tracking liabilities) and the new rate (which can be the basis for cutting checks for cash purposes, only).

You may think this can be done in one's sleep. I would disagree.

17 posted on 08/07/2008 8:52:09 AM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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To: PanzerKardinal
tear off the roof and make them work and sleep in the open

I like that. They did that to get a consensus on who would be the next pope in the middle ages once.
18 posted on 08/07/2008 10:55:01 AM PDT by DarkSavant
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To: calcowgirl
Thanks for the info, calcowgirl. I have no doubt the complexity of the system will require some reasonable lead time to implement the governor's executive order, however, didn't Chiang outright refuse to comply with the order?

It is a risky move to defy an executive order, but State Controller Chiang said he believes strongly in what he is doing. Despite the governor's threat, most state employees have seen no change in their pay, and they have Chiang to thank for that.

State Controller, John Chiang. He says, "I'm the one who won't issue the minimum wage as the governor ordered, so the next step they would have to take is the governor would have to sue me to pay minimum wage," State Controller Chiang said. ~snip~

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=8794216

19 posted on 08/07/2008 10:57:21 AM PDT by 4woodenboats ( MEJA is FUBAR DefendOurMarines.org DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: 4woodenboats

He said he wouldn’t do it... because he isn’t able to do it.

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=9482

He says his staff tried in 2003 to see what it would take to rewrite the computer code to lower pay. “And after 12 months, we stopped without a feasible solution and with the knowledge that recovery for such a sweeping adjustment to minimum wage would take at least six months before all employees would see the right amounts in their hard-earned paychecks,” he says

Mr. Chiang also says if the lower pay were to go into effect, California government might be violating California law.

“The governor’s order to pay California state workers only the federal minimum wage would put the state in the awkward position of violating its own labor law,” he says. “Since Jan. 1, California law has required all California employers to pay their workers at least the $8 minimum wage set by the Legislature.”


20 posted on 08/07/2008 11:05:50 AM PDT by calcowgirl ("Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink." P. J. O'Rourke)
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