The Bee's Jim Sanders just posted this at sister blog Capitol Alert:
Alameda Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick said he expects to issue a written ruling this afternoon on whether to temporarily restrain furloughs from being imposed on state workers beginning Friday.
Brick heard more than two hours of arguments from both sides today in a push by employee unions to kill Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent order to launch a new program of forced time off.
An appeal is expected regardless how Brick rules on the TRO, so the judge set a Sept. 13 hearing on whether to permanently suspend furloughs, said Jim Zamora, a spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000 who attended today's court hearing.
Schwarzenegger's order, issued July 28, requires affected employees to take three unpaid days off per month until a new state budget is passed for the fiscal year that began July 1.
The governor's move was in response to a projected $19 billion budget deficit that has prompted state Controller John Chiang to say that he will start IOUs this month or in September if a budget deal is not struck.
Chiang has estimated that the state's cash could run out by October absent a breakthrough in tense, partisan budget negotiations.
Many, but not all, state workers are covered by the furloughs, which are similar to the program of forced time off imposed by Schwarzenegger during the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The governor's new order was meant to cover about 156,000 state workers, but various exclusions or exemptions could drop the number to about 144,000.
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