Posted on 09/14/2003 9:39:19 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
The average state worker now has a $56,800 compensation package, including about $12,700 in benefits -- excluding those in the legislature, judiciary, or university systems.
Workers can accrue up to 16 weeks of annual leave -- that can eventually be cashed out, and they get 13 holidays a year, far more than most private-sector workers. And many state workers are paid more than private-sector employees who do similar work.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System -- which provides an average $1,594 per month to 388,126 retired state workers -- has been in crisis as the stock market floundered, forcing the state to issue a $2 billion obligation bond to cover what it owes this year.
Legislation enacted in 2000 gave state workers and retirees a big bump in benefits so that safety workers can retire on 90 percent of their salary faster, while the average worker retiring at 60 with 25 years service would get more than double the old benefit, or more than $25,000 a year.
The nation's 29.4 million retired workers get an average $899 per month, or about $10,788 annually.
While California's population has tripled since 1950, the state government has increased fivefold.
In constant dollars, the cost of government per Californian has increased from $390 in 1950 to $2,213 a year today.
The only comparable spikes in the annual increase in spending were under former Gov. Jerry Brown in the 1970s, but the real cost per resident then was 25 percent less than today.
State government has added more than 42,000 workers since 1999 -- or more than all the Boeing Co. workers employed in California -- to more than 325,000 employees. That's 9.1 state workers per 1,000 residents, up from 5.7 in 1950.
The university systems grew 22 percent, while the rest of government expanded 11 percent between fiscal 1999 and 2002.
Total salaries for all state workers now cost more than $17 billion a year.
As the nation's top state government wage earners, the average California state worker made more than $53,000 a year in 2000 -- nearly a 40 percent increase over 1990, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. New Jersey, the next highest state, paid its workers just over $48,000 annually.
The average state worker nationwide made just over $40,000 -- or more than 25 percent less than the average California state worker.
But California in 2000 ranked at the very bottom in terms of the number of full-time equivalent employees per capita, with 109 per 10,000 residents. The national rate was 151 state workers.
Since, then the state has moved up to 44th, mainly through the addition of teachers, said California Budget Project Executive Director Jean Ross.
Tom McClintock has a plan to take on the budget issues and the bloated, redundant bureaucracies and agencies - BRAC, that will generate significant savings, both near and long-term, for starters.
Arnold will study the books and make cuts where deemed necessary while supporting even more spending for the children.
Busty will grow Big govt bigger and hike taxes.
What's not revealed is whether the private sector's ability or desire to shoulder this burden will last much longer. Businesses leaving the state, bankruptcies, and boarded up establishments will provide the answer in due time.
Slam dunk votes for Davis?
YA THINK??
I'm glad to be MOVING far away from California. California citizens exist to provide wealth for the public employees and illegal immigrants. Simple as that.
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