Over loud objections from organized labor and Republicans, the Legislature has approved a state and local public pension overhaul package that rolls back benefits for future hires while raising what those workers and current employees contribute to their retirements in coming years.

Lawmakers sent the bill to Gov. Jerry Brown on a 38-1 vote in the Senate and 48-8 vote in the Assembly. Democrats, who control majorities in each chamber, barreled ahead with the vote just ahead of the end-of-session deadline after issuing language for the measure Tuesday evening.

Assembly Republicans tried and failed to suspend the measure or at least hold it up while a bill catch-up to close a loophole discovered on Wednesday. They also argued that Assembly bill 340 was a rush job and doesn't do enough to change the pension system.

"Can anyone say what this bill does?" said Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles, countered that the legislation came from months of discussions and represents a refinement of a 12-point pension plan Brown proposed earlier this year. Republicans backed Brown's plan.

"It is meaningful, significant, historic reform," Pérez said.

Person interviewed: Mike Flores
Job classification: Data Processing Manager III, Parks and Recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Mar. 28, 2012
Notable quote: "During the meeting, after it was introduced, we usually have ... discusion. And I think I would have to say that it was brought up that maybe it would be best, you know, to keep it quiet." - Flores response, transcribed on page 17, when asked whether managers at a June 2011 parks managers' meeting were told to keep a leave buyback plan secret.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011. The Bee broke the story of the leave cash-out program, which spurred a subsequent revelation that parks squirreled away millions of dollars while also threatening to close facilities due to extreme budget pressure.

This post is the next in a series intended to make the parks investigation documents readily accessible to the public.

Flores Interview 2012-3-28

California's Board of Equalization faces $3 million to $4 million in costs to replace faulty exterior glass panels on its 24-story headquarters and to make extensive repairs to faulty waste water drainage pipes inside it.

In an email to The State Worker, a board spokesman confirmed the new repairs and their cost, which were first reported by Cal Tax Reports.

Person interviewed: Michael Harris
Job: Acting chief deputy director, State Parks
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview:Feb. 24, 2012
Notable quote: "My immediate thought was there was a large lapse of judgment at the very least. A large lapse of judgment serious enough that ultimately we relieve Manuel of his CEA duties." - Harris recalling his thoughts when he first heard of the parks covert leave buyback plan hatched by Deputy Director Manuel Lopez. The quote is found on page 14 of the transcript.

Note: The leave scandal cost Harris his job. He received this termination letter from the department on July 20. The effective termination date was Aug. 9.

This post is part of a series intended to make public all of the documents released by the California Natural Resources Agency's investigation of the leave covert cash out of leave time by parks employees in the summer of 2011, even as it was preparing to close facilities for lack of funds.

Harris Interview 2012-2-24

The Roundup: California pension bill's loophole; death row inmate assaults officers; pensions and taxes

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Fri, Aug 31 2012 05:34:01

Person interviewed: Paris Jackson
Job: Assistant personnel officer, Parks and Recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Feb. 16, 2012
Notable quote: "There was like, no we can't do this. Yes, we can. No, just over 640. Okay. We'll do those who are under as well. Then it was like, no, we're not doing it." - Jackson recounting a debate between parks administration services management over whether the division could buy back accumulated employee leave time. (Transcript page 23.)

Investigators say Jackson manipulated the payroll system to obscure the payouts as overtime and backdated some entries to circumvent controls. As a result of her role in the leave buyback program, the department cut her pay 5 percent for one year. Click here to read the Notice of Adverse Action against her.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

Natural Resources issued the documents online in response to media requests after The Bee broke the story of the leave cash-out program, which spurred a subsequent revelation that parks squirreled away millions of dollars while also threatening to close facilities due to extreme budget pressure.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those documents accessible to the public.

Jackson Interview 2012-2-16

Person interviewed: Cheryl Taylor
Job: Caltrans budget manager
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: April 12, 2012
Notable quote: "Manuel gets to decide every year what he's going to report." - Taylor's assessment former parks deputy director Manuel Lopez decided how much money the parks department reported to the Department of Finance each year. (See transcript page 38 below.)

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

Natural resources issued the documents online in response to media requests after The Bee broke the story of the leave cash-out program, which spurred the revelation that parks squirreled away millions of dollars while also threatening to close facilities due to extreme budget pressure.

This post is the next in a series intended to make the documents readily accessible to the public.

Taylor Interview 2012-4-12

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of the parks documents readily accessible to the public.

Person interviewed: Helen Carriker
Job classification: Deputy director, Department of Fish and Game
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview:Mar. 29, 2012
Notable quote: "I said you can't do that without getting approval to do it. That's something you just cannot do. It's, you know, a big deal. It's union issues and all sorts of stuff. You can't just pay it." - Carriker's recollection, transcribed on page 6, of what she told Manuel Lopez and another parks official when they asked about the propriety of buying back staff leave time.
Carriker Interview 2012-3-29

The Roundup: California pension reform

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Aug 30 2012 06:50:37

Person interviewed: Dorothy Kroll
Job : Accounting chief, Parks and Recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Feb. 26, 2012
Notable quote: "I knew why." - Kroll explaining to investigators that she assumed that parks Deputy Director Manuel Lopez didn't want anything about his leave buyout plan for administrative managers communicated via email because word might leak out to other employees. (Transcipt page 15 and following.)

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011. A Bee report about the program led to the revelation that parks had squirreled away millions of dollars, part of which paid for the leave buyouts.

This post is part of a series intended to make all of those documents readily accessible to the public.

Kroll Interview 2012-2-16

California state and local governments stand to save between $40 billion and $60 billion over 30 years, according to a hasty fiscal analysis of a pension reform measure set for a vote later this week, according to CalPERS.

The fund's top actuary, Alan Milligan, announced the estimate with plenty of caveats during a special meeting of the fund's Board of Administration. Lawmakers didn't issue the 38 pages of language for Assembly Bill 340 until Tuesday evening. CalPERS staff worked overnight to analyze it in time for this afternoon's special

"We've had limited time in which to review the provisions," Milligan said, "so this estimate will change as we continue to delve in to the language of the bill."

Person interviewed: Alan Friedman
Job classification: Chief information officer, State Parks
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview:Feb. 23, 2012
Notable quote: "Well, I'm a CEA II and so I pay a significant amount in taxes. ... Getting a buyout is just going to create (an) additional tax load on me ... and to me it's ... going to make much more sense to ... transfer that money into a 401(k) and a 457 plan." - Friedman, as quoted on page 13 of the transcript, explaining why he didn't participate in the parks covert leave buyout plan.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011. The Bee's investigation of the program led to a revelation that the department had squirreled away millions of dollars while threatening to close facilities for lack of funds.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those documents readily accessible to the public.

Friedman Interview 2012-2-23

A roundup of press statements about the new public pension reform proposal announced Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown:

Rob Feckner, president, CalPERS Board of Administration:

The Conference Committee's proposed legislation is the result of a thorough process involving multiple hearings across the state. We thank the Committee for its commitment to hear the views and ideas of all stakeholders and wish to recognize those that have contributed to the process.

According to news reports, many of the elements of the legislation announced today, including anti-spiking legislation, a strong definition of pay rate, and prohibitions against retroactive pension enhancements, will go a long way to ensure sustainability of the retirement fund, reduce abuse and add protections, ease administration, and reduce pension costs over time.

Here's the measure approved Tuesday night by majority Democrats on the Legislature's six-member conference committee on pension reform:

Labor unions wasted no time bashing the pension reform unveiled by Gov. Jerry Brown this morning as a unilaterally-imposed political exercise that needlessly guts state and local public employees' retirement for hundreds of thousands of workers.

"This is far more than 'low hanging fruit,'" said Dave Low, chairman of union coalition Californians for Retirement Security in statement issued while Brown was still holding a pension press conference in Los Angeles just before noon. "This is the fruit, the branch, the tree trunk, and the roots."

What particularly rankles labor leaders, however, was that none of this was bargained.

Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers have reached a deal that will alter pensions for hundreds of thousand of local and state workers.

Brown will announce an agreement that promises future employees less and requires many of them to pay more for it than their tenured colleagues, according to details of the plan leaking out this morning.

Brown is scheduled to talk about pension reform tat an 11:30 a.m. Los Angeles press conference. The Democratic governor made cutting public pension costs a key piece of his administrative agenda and has insisted that voters insist on reform before they'll embrace a tax hike on the November ballot that Brown is backing.

Here are the components of the agreement reached between state lawmakers and Brown, according to sources familiar with the agreement. The terms would begin to take effect Jan. 1.:

Person interviewed: Ronette Martinez
Job: Staff services manager I, Parks and Recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Feb. 23, 2012
Notable quote: "I just told my boss that because I know that." - Martinez explaining that she told Paris Jackson, a parks assistant personnel officer, how to key in the deparment's under-the-radar leave cashouts to circumvent state payroll processing controls.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of the documents readily accessible to the public.

Martinez Interview 2012-2-23

Person interviewed: Karyn Lombard
Job: Training specialist, Parks and Recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Mar. 29, 2012
Notable quote: "I believe he said, it's your money anyways." - Lombard, on page 12 of the transcript, recalling what parks Personnel Officer Jason Summers said when she thanked him for a 200-hour leave cashout she received.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those 38 documents readily accessible to the public within the next few days.
Lombard Interview 2012-3-29

The state Department of General Services announced today that it has axed 7,112 vehicles from the state inventory of passenger cars, trucks, vans, buses, heavy equipment, boats, trailers, planes and other vehicles over the last 19 months. The reductions comply with Gov. Jerry Brown's order last year to cut the state fleet.

The department said in a press release that it eliminated some 4,204 passenger cars and light-duty trucks, saving an estimated $12.6 million annually in operating and depreciation costs. The state also terminated take-home vehicle privileges for more than 3,200 employees, nearly half the number of all so-called "home storage use permits" issued in January 2011 when Brown ordered the cuts in fleet costs.

General Services, which acts as the state's business manager, said these departments saw the biggest vehicle reductions:

Corrections and Rehabilitation - 2,263
Caltrans - 1,322
Parks and Recreation - 586
Fish & Game - 494
Highway Patrol - 457
Developmental Services - 312
CAL FIRE - 240
General Services - 241
Water Resources - 218
Prison Industry Authority - 105

Lawmakers charged with overhauling California's state and local public pension law are considering a plan to cap defined benefit pensions that would not include a second 401(k)-style component common in so-called "hybrid" retirement plans.

"There will be a cap," Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, during a hallway press conference this afternoon with Capitol reporters. "I think what you will see tomorrow, there won't be a hybrid. ... It will just be a cap, for both miscellaneous and public safety workers."

Steinberg wouldn't divulge details such as where the cap would be set, a key figure that will establish how many of California's 2 million-plus public-sector state and local workers fall under the provision. He also cautioned that his comments this afternoon shouldn't be construed as a formal announcement. As of this afternoon, lawmakers were still hammering out specifics and no pension language had been released.

"This is not a deal," Steinberg said, "I'm telling you I'm confident there will be."

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those documents readily accessible to the public.

Person interviewed: Patrick Kemp
Job: Assistant secretary for administration finance, Natural Resources Agency
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview: Mar. 29, 2012
Notable quote: "I just assumed he, you know, if he was going to do it just went out and did -- did the proper process." - Kemp's recollection of his thoughts after telling parks Deputy Secretary Manuel Lopez in the summer of 2011 that a leave buyback program would need approval from the state's finance and personnel departments. (Transcript page 11.)
Kemp Interview 2012-3-29

Person interviewed: Jason Summers
Job: personnel manager, parks and recreation
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Dates of interviews: Feb. 15, 2012 and April 25, 2012 (click the link below to view both transcripts.)
Notable quote: "Well, if there's an excuse now would be the time to come up with it, I must say." - Murphy pressing Summers, quoted in the April 25 transcript on page 20, to explain how he was so removed from the leave buyback "situation" as it developed at parks.

Note: Summers eventually was demoted for, among other things, portraying himself to investigators as having "bowed out" of the leave buyback process when he was involved and for "inexcusable neglect of duty to assure the legality of the program." Click here to see the department's notice to Summers of his demotion from staff services manager III to staff services manager II.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make the documents readily accessible to the public .

Lawmakers have a deadline to send pension reform legislation to Gov. Jerry Brown by Friday. The buzz around the Capitol is that Democrats met through the weekend, but as of this morning it looks like specific terms are still being debated.

There's no bill language in place. The special committee charged with delivering legislation is primed to meet relatively quickly, but it probably won't convene until tomorrow to vote on a bill package.

Every source we've talked with this morning in the labor, legislative and pension reform arenas say that differences remain in some key areas: the scope of reforms (those impacting current employees versus those that would be applied to future hires only), whether some changes should be bargained (unions want everything bargained) and the annual salary ceiling for setting a defined benefit pension cap.

Leaders of both the Senate and Assembly have promised to deliver pension legislation before the Legislature's two-year session ends at midnight on Friday. Any bills waiting for approval after that will die.

PHOTO: Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg / Sacramento Bee 2011 file, Hector Amezcua

The Roundup: Inside The Bee's CA parks reporting; FL could change leave cash outs; MI to lay off unemployment workers

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Sun, Aug 26 2012 09:51:26

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, much of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

Writing is often as much about deciding what to leave out as it is what to put in. One of the items we decided to cut from Thursday's State Worker column was a reference to Association of Retired Employees of the City of Stockton v. City of Stockton. The case is significant because it signals the court's view of contract and pension law vs. bankruptcy law.

Association of Retired Employees of the City of Stockton v. City of Stockton

The Bee's Phillip Reese, who maintains our state worker pay database, has updated the site with $10.6 billion worth of 2011 salaries from the University of California system. Click here to access what has become the go-to source for publicly available state employee wage information.

IMAGE: www.freeclipart.com

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, much of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

In reporting for today's column on the coming fight pitting pension law against bankruptcy law, we spent about 20 minutes on the phone with professor Douglas Baird at the University of Chicago's Law School, discussing what lies ahead for governments, bondholders and employees. Here are a few snippets of what Baird said:

On how municipal bankruptcies challenge a lender's ability to collect:
There are strong limits on what courts can do to affect day to day operations of a municipality in bankruptcy. When talking about municipalities, what does it mean if one of them refuses to pay?

If you lend me money and I don't pay you back.... You can go to the clerk of the court, seize my assets and get proceeds from the sale of those assets.

But if it's a municipality, what exactly to you do? Sure, you can sue and the court will say the municipality owes the money, but how are you going to get the money? Buildings, for example, don't belong to municipalities. They're considered public assets. They don't belong to the city. So your asset seizure options are limited.

On how bankruptcy law might open the door to altering pension contracts:
The question that hasn't been answered yet is to what extent can you change or modify those obligations through the magic of bankruptcy? Does bankruptcy law give you the power to change those? ...

Bankruptcy doesn't give you a pass to walk away from obligations. It's simply a device that allows everyone to have a come-to-Jesus meeting and recognize reality.

Let's say you have pension obligations of 100, and assets worth just 50. You've got to do something about that. ... As a general matter, if it's a pension obligation that's vested, it's extremely hard to touch. There's a difference between someone nearing retirement and someone ... who is just starting their career. ...

Let's not forget: If you make a promise to someone you're supposed to keep it. Bankruptcy law just allows you to ask, how can we make the best of a bad situation?

The Roundup: Pension fight goes to courts; LA agents caught shaving work time; benefits fights in AZ and IL

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Aug 23 2012 07:13:37

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those 38 documents readily accessible to the public within the next few days.

Person interviewed: Elsie Brenneman
Job classification: Parks budget officer
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interviews:Feb. 23, 2012, and Mar. 9, 2012 (click the link below to access)
Notable quote: "I just figured -- I assumed it was there personal information so why would they feel the need to share it, but if they wanted to, it was their information." - Brenneman on page 17 of the Feb. 23 interview explaining why she spread word of the parks leave buyout plan verbally and not in writing.
Brenneman Interview 2012-2-23

California Edition host Brad Pomerance recently opened his show with a 13-minute interview with state Sen. Mimi Walters discussing public employee pensions.

Walters is a member of the conference committee tasked with crafting pension legislation. State Senate and Assembly leaders have said they will come up with a bill before the current session closes at the end of this month.

Midway through the interview Pomerance asks, "Do you believe that we will see some form of pension reform in this legislative year?"

Walters: "I believe we will see a form of pension reform. Will it be comprehensive? No. Will it make major changes to the issues that we're facing wth pensions? No. I believe that this Legislature will do something to say, 'Hey we took care of a couple of the abuses and now let's hope this issue goes away.'"

Pomerance: "Is something better than nothing, or is nothing better? Because if you do something it won't address the real fundamental problem."

Walters: "My concern is if we just do a little something, it won't address the fundamental concerns that we're facing -- and the issue may very well go away."

A separate interview about voting rights and legislation starts at the 14-minute mark with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those 38 documents readily accessible to the public within the next few days.

Person interviewed: Robert Bonner
Job classification: State Parks labor relations manager
Interviewed by: Corrine Murphy, Justice Department deputy attorney general, and Angela Nowicki, Superintendent II, State Parks Law Enforcement Emergency Services
Date of interview:Feb. 24, 2012
Notable quote: "The 'gray zone' is -- my understanding is those areas of policy that aren't really detailed in policy. ... And that's an area, you know, you certainly want to be careful because while there are no guidelines for how you're operating, for your -- one way or another, you can certainly get yourself into some problems." - Bonner's explanation on page 17 when asked whether he was familiar with the term, "the gray zone."
Bonner Interview 2012-2-24

The California State Employees Charitable Campaign Kick Off startes this morning at 11 and will run through 1 p.m on the west side of the State Capitol.

The event includes more than 100 local nonprofits sharing their goals and offering state employees opportunities to volunteer or donate money.

The California State Employees Charitable Campaign launched in 1957 as a fundraising drive focal point for state workers. The organization has reached out to more than 297,000 state employees and, according to a press release issued for today's event, "thousands of nonprofits are now receiving a total of $6.9 million" as a result of its efforts.

The capital-region chapter covers Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties and more than 80,000 State employees. State workers locally have raised and donoted more than $3.7 million for nonprofits.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those 38 documents readily accessible to the public within the next few days.

On Feb. 23, 2012, investigators interviewed Lynn Black, who had been an administrative assistant to parks Deputy Director Manuel Lopez before he was demoted. In her seven years on the job at the time of the interview, "I've had seven bosses in seven years," she said.

The interview dissects meetings and conversations about the leave program. At one point Black says that other divisions in parks had heard about the leave program. After Lopez left his deputy position, he called Black to thank her for a favor she did for him. During the conversation, Black recalled, Lopez said, "I feel like I let everybody down."

Click here to read the Lynn Black interview.

The California Natural Resources Agency recently released more than 1,000 pages of interviews, adverse action notices and reports that detail a covert employee leave buyback program at the Department of Parks and Recreation during the summer of 2011.

This post is the next in a series intended to make all of those 38 documents readily accessible to the public within the next few days.

Authur J. Lee, the parks department audits office chief, made several findings in this 14-page report:

• Parks leave buyback was not properly authorized by the state's human resources department.
• The personnel service section of the parks department executed a similar $197, 937 leave cash out in 2008. Like the latest cash out, that one lacked sufficient documentation and "does not appear to be in complete compliance" with state rules.
• The department also launched a questionable leave buyout plan for Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation division that paid $111,645, including $20,598 paid to a superintendent.
• Leave payments were taken out of money budgeted for the 2011-12 fiscal year.
Auditors were "astonished" that Manuel Thomas Lopez, chief of the administrative services division and the person who launched the leave buyback plan, cashed out more that four weeks of vacation pay in August 2011 using 2011-12 budget dollars after cashing out nearly nine weeks of leave for $19,135 a few months earlier.

Parks Personnel Officer Jason Summers responded to the audit in a letter dated Mar. 27, 2012:

"As a result of the finding and recommendations in your audit report, the Personnel Section and Administrative Division have taken the following actions to improve processes and procedures regarding leave buy back as well as clarify and communicate to staff the Division's expectations for professional excellence, integrity and personal responsibility.

On Aug. 3, Summers was demoted for his involvement. He and two other parks officials were disciplined for "inexcusable neglect of duty," "misuse of state property" and "failure of good behavior" for their roles in the leave scheme.

Audit of Internal Controls Over Leave Buy Back

The Roundup: More about CA parks scandal; Prop 32 a 'fraud'; attack alters Napa alarm policy

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Tue, Aug 21 2012 06:49:40

Manuel Thomas Lopez, the central figure behind the parks and recreation scandal, spoke with state investigators about the plan before abruptly leaving his post earlier this year.

Below, we've posted links to the department's Notice of Adverse Action against the former parks deputy director, and the October 2011 termination notice for his deputy director job. Lopez left that post for a lower-level position in the department and was about to be fired when he retired earlier this year.

We've embedded Lopez's April 3 interview below and the subsequent investigation report of Lopez and the leave cash-out program signed by Deputy Attorney General Corinne Lee Murphy.

If you haven't already, read California parks officials were looking to spend while shortchanging parks, documents show, for context and then check out the documents:

Lopez Notice of Adverse Action
Lopez Termination Letter

More than half of California voters favor Proposition 32, according to new poll by the California Business Roundtable and Pepperdine University, although the support for the measure has declined in the last two weeks.

The decline is probably tied to the union-backed No-on-32 radio ads that launched statewide during that period.

The university and business association have been running bi-weekly online polls on ballot measures since mid-July. Click here to see more detailed test results from Aug. 12 to Aug. 15 poll.

Note: The first July polling on Proposition 32 gauged participants' reaction to the initiative's title and summary. Subsequent polls used the measure's label, which is the wording that will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

GRAPH: courtesy California Business Roundtable

Palo Alto physicist and frequent GOP political donor Charles Munger Jr. has contributed another $635,035 this week to back a campaign finance reform measure, according to recently filed state records. It's his second six-figure donation to the Proposition 32 campaign in three months.

Munger, whose namesake father has made billions of dollars as an investment partner of Warren Buffett, has backed a number of Republican candidates and causes, including California's successful redistricting reform initiatiative, Proposition 20.

In May, he gave $237,000 to the pro-Proposition 32 campaign.

The measure goes before voters on Nov. 6. It would ban unions and corporations from contributing directly to candidates, although both could still fund campaign efforts that run independently. Another provision would prohibit either group from using payroll-deducted money to fund those independent expenditure campaigns, which would choke off organized labor's chief source of political funding. Corporate campaign and candidate contributions come from executive donations or company treasuries. The measure wouldn't affect those donor sources.

Aug. 16 Yes on Proposition 32 contribution report

The list of big donors to the campaign against Proposition 32 reads like a laundry list of unions -- with a notable exception: Thomas Steyer.

Recently-filed state records show that Steyer, a San Francisco hedge fund manager and major player in California politics, gave $500,000 to the No on 32 campaign on July 30.

Until now, those kinds of donations from individuals in the private sector have gone to the pro-Proposition 32 side. The measure is largely seen as much more business-friendly, since one of its provisions would end union and corporate use of payroll-deducted money for political purposes. That would cut off organized labor's primary vehicle for collecting political spending funds while leaving corporations relatively untouched, since they get funding from their company resources and executive donations.

The Roundup: Lawmaker gift bill dies; pension funds shift strategy; MN workers lose benefits

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Fri, Aug 17 2012 06:47:48

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, much of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

Our State Worker column in today's Bee notes that Professional Engineeers in California Government filed a grievance triggered by furloughs started in July. The union claims that the Brown administration violated the PECG contract by suggesting a 2012-13 budget that funds only 95 percent of their members' wages.

The then-Department of Personnel Administration (now dubbed the Department of Human Resources), said that the June 4 grievance was "premature" because it was filed before the July 1 start of furloughs so that no union members had suffered a loss.

The administration also said that Brown was acting in his role as governor in presenting a budget plan, not as the state's employer. Therefore, the administration said, Brown didn't violate the union's contract.

PECG attorney Gerald James asked for arbitration to keep the association's options open, but hasn't pushed the matter any further, union spokesman Ryan Endean said Wednesday.

PECG Jun4, 2012, furlough grievance and related correspondence

The Roundup: Jerry Brown and unions; VA workers get bonus; state workers boo IL governor off stage

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Aug 16 2012 06:49:54

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez vowed today that his chamber will take action this month on comprehensive public pension reform, including controversial practices known as spiking and airtime.

Pérez's comments came during a Capitol news conference at which he discussed legislative accomplishments and priority issues to be addressed before the session adjourns for the year Aug. 31.

The Los Angeles Democrat said he expects the Assembly to address "all 12 issue areas" targeted by Gov. Jerry Brown in a wide-ranging plan released in October 2011 to curb rising pension costs.

"They may not be in exactly the way that the governor addresses them, nor should they be," he said of proposals expected to be approved by the Legislature in response to the governor's 12-point plan.

"We're going to build on the 12-point plan that the governor put out, and actually expand on it," he said.

Brown's plan contains some provisions aimed specifically at new and local workers, while others would apply to existing employees, too.

The governor would offer new state and local employees a less generous retirement package, a "hybrid" system combining a smaller, defined benefit, Social Security and a 401(k)-style benefit. Retirement age would be increased to 67, from 62 for most such employees now.

Under Brown's plan, current and future employees would be required to pay more for their pension. The state would eliminate airtime -- the practice of buying years of service time - and would restrict "double dipping" in which retirees return to work for the government, receiving both a pension and paycheck.

Brown also wants to crack down on the spiking of pensions through short-term promotions or raises shortly before retirement.

Pérez declined to discuss specific areas of pension agreement and disagreement with Brown.

"We want to go after people that have engaged in objectionable practices like spiking and airtime, we want to really create good, broad-based reform, but we want to do it in a way that's not punitive to the average pension recipient who's getting by on pensions in the $30,000s that are not objectionable to any of us," he said. "We think we're going to be successful there."

Well, it's not over yet.

Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to appeal a trial court's decision that the state wrongly furloughed thousands of state workers and owes them millions of dollars in back pay.

Attorney David Tyra filed the Notice of Appeal of Professional Engineers in California Government v. Brown on Monday on behalf of Brown and the state Department of Human Resources. Controller John Chiang who also was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, is not a party in the appeal.

The appeal freezes the trial court's order to pay state engineers $10 million and another $2 million to state scientists.

The Brown administration is fighting a June ruling by Alameda Superior Court Judge Steven Brick that ordered back pay for a combined 13,000 members of PECG and the California Association of Professional Scientists. The back wages cover two days worth of excessive furloughs for most of the affected workers, although about 250 of the unions' members are in line to get pay for all their lost wages -- up to 70 days -- because the court ruled they shouldn't have been furloughed at all.

CAPS President David Miller reacted to news of Brown's appeal in an email to The State Worker: "We were hoping to put an end to this Schwarzenegger era furlough litigation. After all, Superior Court Judge Steven Brick ruled for us after carefully evaluating the evidence. We think the Court of Appeal will find the last round of unpaid furloughs just as legally flawed as Judge Brick did."

Here's the notice:

With Democrats promising pension reform legislation by the end of this month, a statewide business group is pushing lawmakers to accept Gov. Jerry Brown's 12-point plan to change state and local retirement benefits.

In a letter to the governor and lawmakers on Monday, 15 members of the Regional Economic Association Leaders Coalition called the Brown plan "an important first step toward returning our pension obligations to a state of fiscal sustainability."

Service Employees International Union has put another $2.5 million into defeating Proposition 32 , a November ballot measure that would alter how political campaigns are financed in California.

The donation came from SEIU's California State Council of Service Employees Issues Committee, according to state records filed on Monday, bringing the total contributions to the No on 32 campaign to about $19.5 million.

Between contributions from its issues committee and from SEIU Local 1000, the union has now kicked in about $3.5 million to defeat the Nov. 6 ballot proposal.

The Yes on 32 campaign has taken in about $4 million so far.

The measure would ban unions and corporations from using payroll-deducted funds for political purposes. It also bans direct campaign contributions by either interest group. Both sides could continue funding independent expenditure campaigns.

Labor unions have made defeating the initiative their top priority because they rely on payroll-deducted member dues to build their political war chests, including money for independent expenditure efforts. Corporations use contributions from executives and funds from their company treasuries to play in politics, so the measure wouldn't hit them as hard.
Aug. 13, 2012 Late Contribution Report -- Proposition 32

A Superior Court judge in Sacramento has rendered a split ruling on a lawsuit contesting the language that describes a campaign-finance measure on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Judge Michael P. Kenny refused to strike a key sentence in the Proposition 32's title and summary that a proponent sued to take out -- although the court agreed with the measure's supporter that some words in Proposition 32's label needed to be strengthened.

Fights over initiative language are common. The titles and summaries appear in the state's voter pamphlet to describe ballot initiatives. Voters see initiatives' labels on the ballot when they vote. Both are written by the attorney general's office.

Kenny refused to strike this sentence from the measure's title and summary: "Other political expenditures remain unrestricted, including corporate expenditures from available resources not limited by payroll deduction prohibition."

It's a key point that the Yes on 32 side wants to downplay while unions have seized on that fact to blast the measure as a veiled attack on labor that would leave corporate interests relatively untouched. Unions depend on payroll-deducted money to play in politics, whereas as corporations get funds from individual donations and company treasuries.

He did agree to change words such as "limits" and "restricts" to "prohibits," as the strikeouts show in this snippet of the amended title and summary:

Many states, including California, may have more legal wiggle room to alter retirement promises for current employees than commonly thought, according to a new survey of state and local pensions by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Researchers Alicia H. Munnell and Laura Quinby conclude that "the protection accorded pension benefits is less embedded in state constitutions and more open to interpretation than commonly perceived." If state courts and legislatures narrow "the current definition of the employer-employee contract to establish that the contract is created when the employee performs the service," then it would become possible to reduce retirement benefits for current workers prospectively, the authors conclude.

Munnell and Quinby say only three states - Alaska, Illnois and New York - have constitutions that clearly protect public pensions for current workers both retrospectively and prospectively. Arizona's constitution protects pensions "past and maybe future," while those in Hawaii, Louisiana and Mississippi protect only benefits that have been accrued.

California and most states consider pensions legal contracts protected from any laws that impair them. When the contract is considered to take effect is key. Conventional wisdom says that pension contracts in California and other states take effect from the first day of employment.

Munnell said in a recent interview with Pensions & Investments that she expects more states will attempt to redefine their pension obligations once courts rule on recent laws that did so in Rhode Island and New Jersey.

For the vast majority of states, however, changing future benefits for current employees is extremely difficult ...

In the end, however, the ability to modify pensions in these states hinges on when the contract is deemed to exist. States where the contract is found to exist at the time a worker is hired have little freedom to change benefits. States where the contract is found to exist at retirement have considerably more flexibility.

Each state would have to define that for itself, the authors conclude, through both the courts and their legislatures.

Pensions & Investments reports that Munnell thinks more states will move to alter pension benefits for current workers if the courts uphold changes to current employees' pensions enacted in New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Legal Constraints on Changes in State and Local Pensions

The Roundup: Business interests and Proposition 32; keeping pension promises; CA inmate population decline slows

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Mon, Aug 13 2012 01:33:44

The Roundup: Parks official's troubled past; OT in Texas; Madoff-style pension investment promises

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Sun, Aug 12 2012 07:04:39

Service Employees International Union and labor organizations representing firefighters and pipe trades workers have given a combined $1.1 million to the campaign to defeat Proposition 32, according to state records.

SEIU's California State Council of Service Employees Issues Committee gave $500,000. California Professional Firefighters Ballot Issues Committee donated $350,000 and California State Pipe Trades Council of the United Association contributed $250,000. The contributions were reported Thursday.

The Nov. 6 ballot measure would ban unions and corporations from using payroll-deducted funds for political purposes. It would also ban direct campaign contributions by either interest group. Both sides would be able to continue funding independent expenditure campaigns as they do now.

Defeating Prop. 32 is the top priority for labor unions, which rely heavily on payroll-deducted member dues to build their campaign war chests. Corporations use other means, such as contributions from executives and funds from their company treasuries to play in politics.

120809 Union Contributions

The number of California state workers who applied for retirement in July fell 21 percent when compared with the same month one year ago, the second-largest decline in the rate of first-time pensioners in 2012.

Some 848 employees took their pensions, marking the fewest to do so in July since 2008, according to new CalPERS figures.

For the first seven months of this year, 6,460 state workers submitted their applications to retire, down from 6,975 from January through July 2011.

The dropoff last month is particularly significant because, as the chart above shows, more state workers retire in July at the state's fiscal year-end than any other month except January. CalPERS retirement application data runs mid-month to mid-month.

The decline in the retirement rate runs counter to conventional wisdom that state retirements should be on the rise as more and more baby boomers exit. Several factors contribute to the trend. Among them is the lingering impact of the furloughs of two or three days a month from 2009 to 2011, which contributed to a spike in retirements.

High unemployment in California and an agreement between Gov. Jerry Brown and SEIU Local 1000 to cut retired annuitant jobs have squeezed retiree job options and probably persuaded some employees to stick around when they might have left otherwise.

Scroll over the interactive chart above for more details. If you want to dive in more deeply, click the link below to open spreadsheets that include CalPERS retiree data for state workers and for all fund members from 2007 through last month.

The Roundup: CA lawmakers blast parks officials; pension funds + Wall Street fees = waste

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Fri, Aug 10 2012 06:33:55

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, much of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

Today's State Worker column references the complexity of the state's process for laying off employees. Using the flowchart below, we came up with 14 steps: three before a department announces a layoff and 11 steps during and after -- and that doesn't include what CalHR has to do.

The process is negotiated with unions. Here's a chart that lays it out, backed by nine pages of explanation:

This just in on our sister blog, Capitol Alert:

California's state-managed public employee retirement systems appear to have outpaced those of other states in 2011 investment earnings, according to a new Census Bureau report.

Click here for more details and a link to the federal data.

With just 400 to 450 words for our weekly State Worker column, much of what we learn each week never sees print. Column Extras give you some of the notes, the quotes and the observations that inform what's published.

Our State Worker column today looks at why state employee unions may agree to speed up the layoff process in exchange for a no-furlough guarantee when labor contract talks commence next year.

Clearly, the best scenario for state employees would be pay raises, not any sort of pay reduction. And state workers and the unions say the state needs to pay more attention to soaring outsourcing costs.

But if the state budget continues to struggle and Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature again force the unions to accept some sort of payroll cut in fiscal 2013-14 to help close another deficit, what's the least-bad solution?

The Roundup: CalPERS pushes back; prefunding benefits; IL police investigate prison information leaks

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Wed, Aug 08 2012 06:38:28

The Association of California State Supervisors wants Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to reverse staff raises, and it is rallying its members to write and call the Sacramento Democrat's offices to tell him so.

A post on its website titled, "Make Steinberg keep his word," noted that the state's No. 2 Democrat said this about public pension reform: "Will it cause some discomfort and unhappiness? Yes. Do you sometimes disagree with your allies and friends to do what you think is the right thing? Yes."

Then the organization, a nonunion advocate for state government managers and supervisors, performs a little political judo:

We couldn't agree with Sen. Steinberg's sentiment more: Doing the right thing sometimes causes discomfort and unhappiness.

That is why ACSS is calling on Sen. Steinberg to stop underhanded dealing to his allies and friends in the Legislature and start the difficult cuts he touts publicly by rescinding the raises he approved for employees in the Legislature after slashing your salary by 5%.

... Take a moment to let him know via email or calls to his office.

The supervisors' group is ticked over a recent Bee review of payroll records finding that at least 93 California legislative employees who earn more than $100,000 received raises this year and that more than 900 employees at all pay levels received pay hikes. The 120-member Legislature employs about 2,220 staff members.

That adds a bit of a sting for state workers whose pay and hours have been cut by nearly 5 percent since July 1. An ACSS poll of its members found that nearly six in 10 think the pay raises should be taken away.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg met with reporters on Monday to talk about the final four weeks of the legislative session. Among the topics he touched on: legislation that would change state and local public pensions.

Here are the high points of that part of the discussion with the Sacramento Democrat, according to notes passed on to The State Worker by Bee Capitol Bureau colleague Torey Van Oot:

On the timing of public pension legislation:

"Definitely by the end of the four weeks."

"The good thing is procedurally and logistically, the conference committee is obviously established and obviously this is an issue of utmost importance that we're going to ensure that the language is out there long enough for people to be able to read it, understand it, comment (on) it and see it. We're working real hard now to try to finish up the remaining issues and get it out as quickly as possible,"

On what issues still need to be hammered out:

Gov. Jerry Brown must decide by the end of next month whether to keep fighting state engineers and scientists over a recent furlough lawsuit he lost or pay $12 million in back wages to settle accounts.

It's not clear whether Brown will appeal. California Department of Human Resources spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley said this morning that state attorneys hadn't yet discussed the matter.

Brown's window to the appellate court closes 60 days from last Thursday, which was when attorneys for Professional Engineers in California Government and California Association of Professional Scientists filed the final paperwork in PECG v. Brown with Alameda Superior Court Judge Steven Brick.

In June, Brick ruled that some 13,000 PECG and CAPS members were excessively furloughed two days last year. He also decided that about 250 of the unions' members shouldn't have been furloughed at all.

Engineers stand to receive a total $10 million in back pay, said Ryan Endean, who speaks for both PECG and CAPS. Scientists would receive about $2 million total. An appeal by Brown would most likely put the payments on hold while the court fight continues.

IMAGE: www.yolocourts.ca.gov

The California Teachers Association has ponied up $7.5 million to fight Proposition 32.

The November ballot measure prohibits the use of payroll-deducted funds for political purposes, eliminating labor unions' primary way of raising money for campaigns and other political spending. It also bans direct campaign contributions by corporations and unions.

The contribution, reported Friday in a campaign finance filing on the secretary of state's website, brings the total raised by the opposition campaign this year to more than $16 million. The No on 32 committee reported having $6.5 million in the bank as of June 30, though that balance doesn't count this check or other contributions received in the last month.

Supporters of the measure, who say it will take special interest money out of politics, have raised more than $2.2 million to date. They ended June with a little more than $1 million in the bank.

SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker hosted a telephone town hall session this week about Proposition 32, the November ballot measure that would ban unions and corporations from contributing money directly to candidates.

In the phone session, Walker was joined by Trudy Schafer, a senior director of the League of Women Voters, to discuss the measure. Both groups oppose it.

Schafer said the League of Women Voters is against it because "it would appear to be campaign finance reform, but we believe that it is not reform, it is unbalanced and unfair."

Schafer said it will have no effect on Super PACs, and even though the bill bans corporations from contributing money to candidates, it does not prevent LLCs, limited partnerships and other 'big businesses' from doing so.

She said afterward that many union members had general questions about the measure, but she didn't hear any about payroll deductions. Proposition 32 would eliminate the use of payroll deductions to raise political money.

"Those who are familiar with the measure recognize that the payroll deductions for political purposes are voluntary," Schafer said.

She added that many union members give a small amount of money that, given alone, would not have a large impact but collectively has a larger effect - undercutting unions' political influence.

Board of Equalization Chairman Jerome Horton says the 2012 Personal Leave Program is having a negative effect on the Board of Equalization, the Franchise Tax Board and the budget. Horton also serves as a member of the Franchise Tax Board.

"We will continue to do our part during these tough economic times to minimize the negative impact of the reduction of hours. However, we are not magicians. Hobbling the BOE and FTB with the Personal Leave Program is like sending farmers home in the middle of harvest season," Horton said in a statement.

He estimated that as a result of the reduction in work hours, California will have an annual revenue loss of $88 million normally generated by the BOE, while the 5 percent salary reduction will save the BOE $13.5 million.

"This is not in the best interest of the state and decreases the efficiency of our efforts to collect revenue," Horton said.

With pensions in the news, we turn to Storify to sum things up.

The Association of California State Supervisors has conducted an online poll on how state employees feel after hearing that numerous legislative employees, some already making six figures, got raises when other state-employees had 5 percent pay cuts.

The majority, nearly 60 percent, said the pay raises should be taken away. Another approximately 25 percent said a similar incentive program should be started for supervisors and managers.

Around 15 percent said 3 percent raises scheduled for supervisors and managers for July 2013 should instead go into effect now.

The poll can currently be viewed on the ACSS's homepage.

The voter-approved pension overhaul in San Diego, Proposition B, will move forward, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. A Superior Court judge denied requests Tuesday to put the implementation on hold while a state agency decides if it is legal.

If implemented, Proposition B would replace pensions with 401(k)-style plans. These plans would be given to most new city hires. The measure also proposes a five-year freeze on pension pay for current workers.

The measure was overwhelmingly approved in June.

Read the full San Diego Union-Tribune story here.

So many Los Angeles city employees are watching the Olympics on-line that the city's technology department is asking them to cut down because it's overloading the city's Internet system.

"We are experiencing a high volume of traffic due to people watching the Olympics online. I respectfully request that you discontinue this as it is impacting city operations," Randi Levin said in an email to city workers, according to the Los Angeles Times.