The State Worker

A group that hoped to put a sweeping public employee pension reform measure on the November ballot is suspending its campaign.

"It's a sad day for pension reform in California," said Aaron McLear, spokesman for Sacramento-based California Pension Reform.

Although the group had drafted two measures that qualified for signature collection, it couldn't raise the $2 million or so needed to mount the petition effort for either one.

In November, Calfornia Pension Reform submitted a proposal to put future state and local public employees into defined contribution plans and another measure that would have shifted future workers into hybrid pensions. In January, it received the title and summary for both, intending to determine which would poll better and then shop that plan to potential campaign donors.

The language that came back from Attorney General Kamala Harris' office was worded to make it unpopular with voters, the pension reform group complained. The language was "false and misleading," it said in a press statement today.

And that made it harder to find money, McLear said.

This is the second in a series of posts that will detail the 2011 political spending by California state workers' unions. The records are downloaded from the California Secretary of State's office and reflect activity filed as of Jan. 31, 2012.

California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment reported political contributions of $154,200 and political expenditures of $206,443, according to records published by the state.

The expense report tallies all political spending, including the contributions figures that break out money that went to politicians and issues campaigning.

The California Democratic Central Committee received the most money, $37,700. Rank-and-file members contributed a little over $41,000 to the CASE PAC. Nearly all of that came in $10 donations. CASE represents roughly 3,400 employees.

We've embedded a spreadsheet below with pages that detail what CASE received and gave last year and other pages that total up the money. To get a sense of political spending in California by other interest groups, check out Maplight.org. The California data on the site run through December 2010.

This is the first in a series of posts that will detail the 2011 political spending by California state workers' unions. The records are downloaded from the California Secretary of State's office and reflect activity filed as of Jan. 31, 2012.

A political action committees operated by SEIU Local 1000 gave $380,000 to campaigns and organizations last year, including nearly $195,000 to the Democratic State Central Committee of California, according to records filed with the state.

The union also donated a total of $21,000 to help retire 2010 campaign debts for Democrats such as Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara; Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda; and Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, among others.

One of the union's PACs donated several hundred dollars of staff time to politicians, including Controller John Chiang.

For a list of the union's political entities, click here. The union's reports to the state duplicated some expenditures. Note: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that public sector employees may not be compelled to subsidize political or ideological activities of public employee unions.

We've embedded a spreadsheet below that details how the union's various political entities received and gave last year. To get a sense of political spending in California by other interest groups, check out Maplight.org (the California data on the site run through December 2010).

Editor's note, 2:29 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that unions could not use members' dues to fund PACs.

After years of profitability, the California Prison Industry Authority suffered a $15.3 million loss last year, according to its latest annual report to the state Legislature.

The losses in fiscal 2010-11 came from a $17.4 million drop in operating revenues and $8.6 million the self-funded PIA set aside in anticipation of settling union furlough lawsuits. The authority also paid $6.3 million to cover Other Post-Employment Benefits such as retiree health care and a $2.8 million expense from factory closures.

"If not for the furlough expense, the annual OPEB charge, and the onetime costs associated with factory closures, CALPIA would have continued its profitability in FY 2010-11," the report says.

The PIA oversees four inmate training programs that operate manufacturing, service, and agriculture industries at 22 correctional facilities. They produce everything from modular buildings and fire protection gear to furniture and pre-packaged meals. Most of what PIA makes is purchased by the state or other government entities.

More than 7,000 inmates participate, saving the state "more than $11 million annually in General Fund costs for rehabilitation positions that CDCR does not have to fund," the annual report says. Those inmates make between 30 and 95 cents per hour before deductions.

Participants without a high school diploma must earn a GED within two years to continue in the program. Joint Venture Program participants earn a comparable wage less deductions for things like taxes, room and board, crime victim compensation, government-ordered restitution such as child support. Inmates in the program also have to put money into a savings account.

Graduates from the PIA's Career Technical Education program, which gives inmates "hands-on experience in real world training," were 89 percent less likely to return to prison when compared with the prison system's general population, according to the report. Overall, PIA participants across the board had a 24 percent to 30 percent lower recidivism rate than the general prison population.

Budgets were tight, but some California lawmakers got extra money last year
With California billions behind on its budget and public services shrinking, the Assembly collectively tightened its belt last year - but not all of its members did. (Sacramento Bee)

NY: Drawing Fire, Deal Gives Agency Staff Power to See State Workers' Tax Files
ALBANY -- Lawmakers and labor unions on Monday pointedly criticized a secret decision by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's administration to greatly expand the state inspector general's access to tax returns filed by state employees. (New York Times)

Initiative would make Legislature part time, slash its pay
A proposal by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) probably won't make her many friends among her colleagues. She wants to reduce the Legislature to part-time status and cut its pay from $95,000 annually to $1,500 a month. (Los Angeles Times)

Dan Walters: Jerry Brown's tax plan takes a double hit
Gov. Jerry Brown's campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday. (Sacramento Bee)

A former Department of Transportation employee who attempted to illegally export military satellite technology has been indicted on federal charges, according to court documents unsealed today.

Civil engineer Philip Chaohui He, who was also known as Philip Hope, was arrested in Long Beach on Dec. 11 and fired from his Caltrans job 10 days later for failing to show up to work.

Department spokeswoman Tamie McGowen said that He, an Oakland resident, reviewed technical drawings and that his work was closely supervised, including work he did on the Bay Bridge.

"He had no access to sensitive information that's not available to the public," McGowen said, asserting that there are no safety or security concerns about He's work.

Investigators from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security told Caltrans last July that they were watching He. At the fed's request, Caltrans cooperated with the investigation.

"We're proud of the fact that we were closely working with them," McGowen said.

The Colorado federal grand jury indictment alleges that He drove to the port of Long Beach on Dec. 11 with 200 radiation-hardened integrated circuits worth nearly $550,000 in the trunk of his car. The circuits, which are considered sensitive defense articles banned from export without federal authorization, were concealed in plastic infant formula containers inside five sealed boxes marked "milk powder" in Chinese.

At the port, the indictment alleges, He met two men "in front of a docked ship bearing a (Chinese) flag. The (Chinese) flagged ship was registered to Zhenhua Port Machinery Company LTD, a subsidiary of the ... state-owned corporation China Communications Construction." One of the men had a Chinese passport and the ship was scheduled to return to China in a few days.

He allegedly obtained the circuits illegally from Colorado-based Aeroflex Colorado Springs. After his arrest, he was extradited to Colorado and now faces up to 35 years and $1.5 million in fines on charges of conspiracy, attempted unlawful export and attempted smuggling of defense articles.

He appeared in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday where he was advised of his rights and the charges against him
.
Click here to read the Colorado federal grand jury indictment.

While two unions have settled the last remnants of their legal battles against state worker furloughs, two others continue to fight.

Professional Engineers in California Government and California Association of Professional Scientists filed opening arguments against furloughs in Alameda Superior Court on Friday. The unions are asking the court to set aside the furlough orders "to the extent that they were unlawful and the employees represented by Petitioners should be made whole for unauthorized reductions in their compensation."

Their arguments include two new twists.

As part of its agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration, SEIU Local 1000 has filed requests for dismissal of five furlough lawsuits in Alameda, Sacramento and San Francisco superior courts.

Click here for background on the furlough litigation between the union and Brown.

The following links open Local 1000's applications to have the cases dismissed. If you want more information about each, click on the county in the list below to open the court's document viewer, plug in the case number, and download the complaints.

Alameda Case No. RG10494800
Alameda Case No. RG10507922
Alameda Case No. RG094567750
Sacramento Case No. 34-2009-80000150-CU-WM-GDS
San Francisco CPF09509782

IMAGE: www.yolocourts.ca.gov

Lawmakers' cars going, going ... gone!
The Capitol parking garage should have some extra spaces this spring. The Legislature has spent the last two months selling cars it had previously purchased for lawmakers, a move mandated by the California Citizens Compensation Commission's decision to cut the car perk legislators have enjoyed for decades. (Sacramento Bee)

See the sale prices for California legislators' state cars
The state Legislature has taken a loss of more than $1 million on the sale of dozens of cars it had purchased for legislators over the years. (Sacramento Bee)

CA: Three arrested in unemployment insurance scheme
Federal authorities have arrested three Inland residents in connection with a scheme to issue unemployment checks to people who did not qualify for benefits, federal authorities said Thursday in a statement. (Press-Enterprise)

High-speed rail tapped state funds for unusual lobbying contract
In an extremely unusual use of taxpayer money, the leaders behind California's $99 billion high-speed train quietly hired a lobbyist to sway the Legislature -- the same politicians who appointed them to build the project in the first place. (Mercury News)

The State Worker has obtained the settlement agreements that end two furlough lawsuits against the state in exchange for restoring back pay for a handful of employees represented by the state's legal professionals' union.

Technically, the deal is two deals.

One settlement worked out between California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Offices in State Employment and Gov. Jerry Brown's administration ends the furlough litigation.

The other is between CASE and the five departments that receive no legislative appropriation and employ about two dozen affected CASE members: First 5 California, the Prison Industry Authority, the California Earthquake Authority, the California Housing Finance Agency and the California State Lottery. That deal OKs paying back wages.

We emailed the agreements to Tim Yeung, a former Personnel Administration lawyer now in private practice, and asked him why the settlement was split.

"The only reason I can think of to split the settlement is to make it crystal clear that Governor Brown and the general fund are not on the hook for the payments from the 5 agencies who were not part of the budget appropriation," Yeung said said in an email.

You can read the union and administration agreement that ends furlough litigation by clicking here. The departments' back pay agreement with CASE is available via this link. Or you can read the embedded documents below: