A 3-0 ruling in the state appeals court gave Gov. Schwarzenegger the green light to go ahead with plans to lower state workers pay to the minimum wage. He hopes to use this tactic as a means to quicken budget negotiations in the state legislator. I'm all for finding a solution to our damaged economy as soon as possible, but requiring an estimated 200,000 state workers to suffer substantially makes me cringe.
It's difficult enough for college students to make ends meet working at $7.25 an hour, I could not even begin to imagine how much harder it would be for those with families who are balancing larger bills on top of that. For example, on average a state worker earns around $65,000 a year, but on minimum wage a state worker would only manage to make $15,000. Now, that is some serious downgrading.
To add to the complications, the state controller who writes the paychecks, John Chiang, refused to comply with the court's order, explaining that it would be too difficult to implement.
Updating a payroll system that has not been revamped since the 1970s would be "complicated, time-consuming and expensive," according to John Harrigan, the division chief of the payroll system until 2006.
Chiang blames the technology of the payroll system for being unable to cut employee's pay on such a massive scale. He also went on to explain that "reducing pay and then restoring it in a timely manner once a budget is enacted cannot be done without gross violations of law." The law it would be reportedly violating is the Fair Labor Standards Act. Chiang also explains that the system would not be ready to alter the pay until 2012.
The process would be brutal and not to mention, confusing. This is exactly what the 200,000 employees, who are unaware of what amount will be on their July paycheck, do not need added on their list of worries.
As the state enters its eighth day of the fiscal year with a $19 billion budget deficit, the govenor really needs to find a better way to push state legislators to establish a state budget that would actually fix California's problem.
Decreasing pay to minimum wage is a terrible idea altogether. It would make more sense if the new payroll would save the state money, but the fact that state workers would be reimbursed after the budget clearly reveals the inconvenience, as well as, the pointlessness of Schwarzenegger's plan. In fact, state employees could end up recouping more money for the inconvenience.
Money has indeed proved itself as the "root of all evil." For once, I am relieved to be — and would rather be — a jobless college student than in the "real world" with a potentially decreasing paycheck.
can only hope that I see the day where college graduates aren't worrisome about landing a job, adults aren't worrisome about paying all their bills on time and that none of us have to see the day when taxpayer-money goes toward frivolous state projects.
Kirsti Correa is a sophomore journalism major and assistant opinions editor for the Summer 49er.
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