It does appear that our state Controller has basically said “No Dice” to the governor’s plan to punish state workers for his own leadership failures.

While the governor is poised to order the cuts on Monday, state Controller John Chiang, who is responsible for disbursing state workers’ paychecks, said Thursday that he will refuse to go along with the governor, setting up a political standoff and a possible legal fight.

“The authority to issue people’s paychecks is mine. I have both constitutional and statutory authority,” said Chiang, a Democrat. “Frankly, (the governor) is just trying to make me do something that’s improper and illegal.”

The same exact thing happened in 2003, with Steve Westly refusing to cut salaries as then-Gov. Gray Davis requested.  And Westly got his way until the budget was eventually signed on August 2.  This basically throws the whole issue into the courts and delays the implementation of any salary cut.  And that’s a legal fight I relish having.  For too long the chief executive of the state – and in some cases, the legislature – has absolutely overstepped their authority with regard to fiscal matters.  The most egregious example is their raiding municipal government and transit funds to fill in the cracks of the budget deficit, which leads to ridiculous outcomes like cutting bus service at a time when mass transit should be expanding.

But Chiang standing with workers and holding on to his authority as a statewide elected official is just as important.  We elect a governor, not a king, and this encroachment on the jurisdiction of other constitutional officers is illegal and increasingly dangerous.  State workers who are rallying against the proposed cuts should understand that they have a champion in John Chiang, and that his decision deserves their support.  The California Democratic Party has a petition you can sign to stand with the Controller in this effort.

UPDATE: As informed by the CDP, State Sen. Dean Florez asked the Legislative Counsel for an opinion on Schwarzenegger’s authority to slash wages, and the Counsel agreed that he didn’t have it:

SACRAMENTO – Senator Dean Florez, D-Shafter, sought to alleviate the fears of state workers contemplating how to pay their bills on the federal minimum wage, while heading off a potential lawsuit between the Governor and Controller at a time the state can least afford it, by releasing a Legislative Counsel opinion stating that the Governor does not have the power to order such a cut to workers’ salaries.

“If the Governor really intended this as more than a ‘motivational’ gimmick, he clearly did not do his homework,” said Florez.  “He is making reckless and false threats against the people who keep our state running, causing undue grief to innocent people — many of whom are already struggling to get by – and I really believe he owes them an apology.”

Yes, you read that headline correctly.  Federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, not California minimum of $8 hour.  The SacBee has this gut shot of a story.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to sign an executive order next week that will reduce pay for more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour to preserve cash in the midst of a month-long budget standoff, according to a draft copy of the order obtained by The Bee.

Administration officials said the governor expects to take the action Monday.

How are these employees going to be able to pay for their groceries on $6.55 an hour, or fill up their car with gas, let alone pay their rent?  The short answer is they aren’t.

This is going to result in a lot of employees needing governmental assistance for basic needs, not that the state has the money to help with that anyways at this point.  This is a crisis and this damn well better get some folks up in arms.

Here is the law that Arnold is using to justify this move.

He says that his action complies with a 2003 ruling by the California Supreme Court that made clear that without a state budget in place, federal labor laws require the state to pay most workers “either federal minimum wage or, for those employees that work overtime, their full salaries.”

You have to assume there will be some lawsuits, most likely by the unions representing these workers.  The pay cut is not the only thing Arnold is doing.

The order would require state agencies to stop authorizing overtime for most employees.

The governor also plans to issue a hard hiring freeze except for state jobs “directly related to the preservation and protection of human life and safety.” He also will suspend work for all retired annuitants, permanent intermittent employees, seasonal employees, temporary help workers, student assistants and some contractors.

The one group I know for sure that will be fired immediately are the seasonal employees at the state parks.  No longer will they be manning gates and working on preservation policies.  There have to be a ton of other agencies effected as well.  

This is obviously a breaking story.  If anyone has anything to add to what the Bee has up, please leave it in the comments.  We don’t have a budget and this is a crisis.  This is exactly what the Republicans want to see, the government failing and getting smaller.  This is what happens when you have a two-thirds rule for both taxes and a budget.  A small minority can cause a whole lot of pain to a huge number of people.

Just shameful.

[UPDATE by Dave] Just to chime in, as I was typing this up myself.  This is intolerable and it aligns perfectly with the Shock Doctrine of taking advantage of a crisis to cause more economic dislocation and pain while rewarding the rich and connected.  The governor’s budget plan is to literally create more working poor among a significant percentage of the work force.  

The lawsuits should begin tomorrow.  This is a breach of trust.  And if you think Arnold’s poll numbers were bad before, wait until you see them after this stunt.  200,000 workers have a lot of friends and family.  What a scumbag.

UPDATE (Bob):  I agree with Dave, let the lawsuits start tomorrow, but let the process to recall begin Friday. The GOP does not value an honest day’s work, that is why our Lame Duck Governor will destroy the lives of the people who work hardest for him while the Yacht Tax Loophole remains. Time for a Special Election to totally recall. Hope to see press releases from the CDP and any union that values work in 48 hours.

[UPDATE by Robert]: This comment by karyn1 on the SacBee article sums it up:

$6.55 an hour only amounts to $1048 per month. After my rent, that would leave only $218 left. How many of you can live on that? Hardly, am I a rich state employee. As a clerical, I am usually broke by the 10th of the month, and the other 3 weeks of the month I am barely getting by. SacBee comments

[UPDATE by Dave]: Speaker Bass weighs in:

“I don’t believe the Governor would put public servants in the crossfire of this budget battle. But this action would speak to the need for all us — including the Governor — to negotiate a balanced, responsible budget that protects our schools and the safety net before we run out of cash.”

The proposal on closing parks was just a game, but now we’re talking about people’s livelihoods.  Playing around like this is unacceptable.

…OK, so the Speaker just revised her press release by changing “should” to “would” in the first sentence, signaling that she thinks he’s bluffing.  Why they would re-send a press release for that is kind of absurd, as the implication was already made.  I really hope this isn’t the result of some talking-to from Arnold’s office, or that this is all one elaborate kabuki, because 200,000 soon-to-be minimum wage employees are not amused.