California's budget deal last week doesn't mean state workers can spike the ball. In some ways, the game is just starting. Most unions are still bargaining for contracts. The full impact of furloughs has yet to show up on paychecks. Several furlough lawsuits are still in play.
And of, of course, there are plenty of questions about what's going on with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's layoff order.
On Friday, we passed along several of your questions to DPA. Here's the e-mailed response we received this morning from spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley:
Is there a date when all the surplus letters will go out at once? Or a delivery deadline that has to be met by the departments?
There's no attempt to pick a single date and time for all recipients to get them, although DPA instructed departments to get them out last week (Tuesday or Wednesday). The departments that get money from the General Fund were instructed to send them, no exceptions.
Are the letters being mailed to employees or handed to them at work?
Each department decides the best method of delivery, either in person or by mail.
Does the state have a breakdown by department or agency of how many notices are going out?
I don't have a breakout (at least not yet) of who sent them out but the top one was CDCR (around 13,000). The count is based on the lowest 20 percent of each of these GF depts in terms of seniority.
In a separate telephone conversation a few minutes ago, Jolley said now that the state has a budget, departments can manage to a specific savings goal. "That means there will probably be a lot fewer (lay offs) than what it might have been" without a budget in place, she said. Departments are making "refinements" to their layoff plans as they crunch their numbers.
IMAGE: www.dpa.ca.gov
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