Political spending by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association reflects how public employee unions faced a divided political battle on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The 30,000-member prison and parole officer union's Truth in American Government Fund split $700,000 of the $1 million it spent between two efforts: $350,000 went to Gov. Jerry Brown's Yes on Proposition 30 campaign and another $350,000 to Joe Slade White & Co.

The union independently tapped the New York-based communications firm to to work up an ad campaign against Proposition 32, the money-in-politics measure that voters rejected on Nov. 6.

Another CCPOA PAC gave $110,000 to the California Democratic Party and $15,400 to the Calfornia Republican Party.

As we noted in an earlier report, the union didn't spend anything to defeat two ballot measures that sought to curtail California's "three-strikes" law (it passed) and repeal the death penalty (it lost).

As you look through the tables below, tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheets open worksheets with more detailed information.

Political spending via larger umbrella organizations, such as SEIU California, is not reflected in the data.

Mariam Noujaim, a dues-paying critic of Service Employees International Union Local 1000, said Tuesday the organization spends too much on travel and dining. Noujaim has engaged in a two-year legal battle to review SEIU internal records, which a judge enabled her to do Tuesday in Sacramento.

The Bee detailed her effort in Monday's paper, and caught up with her Tuesday after she sifted through records. The union has declined to comment on Noujaim's efforts.

SEIU Local 1000's political action committee has reported some $4.3 million in expenses this year, with more than $1 of every $3 spent on defeating Proposition 32, the campaign reform measure that voters rejected on Nov. 6.

The local's PAC also gave $1 million to Gov. Jerry Brown's tax measure, Proposition 30, which won with organized labor's get-out-the-vote efforts and the governor's barnstorming in the crucial final weeks of the campaign season.

As you look through the tables below, tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheets open worksheets with more detailed information.

Remember that expenditures show everything a union PAC spent on political activities, including operating costs. Contributions pages break out donations given to political campaigns and causes. Late contributions are money that came in after the regular filing deadline.

Political spending via larger umbrella organizations, such as SEIU California, is not reflected in the data.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has dropped his push to put a measure to cut pension benefits for city employees on a spring ballot.

The Los Angeles Times reports that spokesman said in a statement that the mayor did not feel he could meet the late December deadline for collecting the voter signatures needed to qualify the measure.

The statement said Riordan would explore other options "to accomplish the goal of pension reform."

"I ask the mayor, the city council and union heads to work with me over the next several months to save the city from bankruptcy and drastic cuts to public services," Riordan said.

Click here to read the full Los Angeles Times report.

Blog backs review your thoughtful and provocative online comments, amplify points, answer questions, correct our mistakes and humbly accept your warranted criticism.

Our report on the latest development in the furlough fight between Gov. Jerry Brown and unions representing state engineers and scientists became an opportunity for blog users to toss in their thoughts about the governor's relationship with labor, the value of unions and whether furloughs save money at all.

Nov. 19, 2012 Jerry Brown administration files furlough appeal

HAHAAAHAAHAA Ha... Now litigation will spend any dollar saved over the past decade.... California will now enjoy the costs of fraud right in their own pockets... LOL... And whats new?

There's a common misperception that furlough litigation costs have offset state payroll savings from furloughs. That's clearly not the case. Not even close.

The Roundup: CA lawmakers' pay cut; CalPERS news; pension funds profit from privatization; IL governor axes AFSCME...

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Wed, Nov 21 2012 08:00:03

A $12-million furlough lawsuit has entered its next phase with a formal appeal filed by Gov. Jerry Brown that seeks to overturn a lower court ruling against the administration.

Th Roundup: CA prison nurses investigated; newspaper calls for WI pay raise; IL lawmakers against pay hikes

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Mon, Nov 19 2012 09:37:37

The number of California state workers who have appled for their first pension checks through the first 11 months of 2012 fell nearly 9 percent from the same period one year ago, according to new CalPERS statistics.

From January through the middle of November, 9,721 CalPERS members working for the state retired, compared to 10,671 during the same period last year. CalPERS counts initial pension applications from mid-month to mid-month, so the latest numbers include filings for the last half of October and the first half of November.

Meanwhile, the total number of state and local government retirement applications to CalPERS through November is off nearly 8 percent from 2011, despite significant monthly increases of between 24 percent and 75 percent over the last three months.

Although it looks like the 2012 will end with fewer state employees retiring than in 2011, the number of first-time pensioners since August is up 20 percent when compared with last year. If the monthly trend continues, look for a significant spike in the January retirement rolls, since more state workers retire at the end of December than at any other time.

Scroll over the the interactive chart above for state retirement comparisons. We've embedded a similar chart for all CalPERS retirements and spreadsheets with all the data after the jump.

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 column in today's Bee looks at an item on Gov. Jerry Brown's unfinished business list: cutting the cost of state retiree health benefits.

If you haven't read the column, check it out and then go through these links to dive more deeply into several points it touches on:

The Roundup: Jerry Brown's unfinished business; CA lawmakers take their leave; VA's state worker loan program

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Nov 15 2012 00:22:48

A California state-run website that tracks state and local government employee compensation relaunched this week with major upgrades that aim to make the data more accessible to the public.

The refurbished site, publicpay.ca.gov, includes maps, simple search engines and even allows users to build their own custom reports, compare pay rates and download raw numbers for their own research. The State Controller's Office, which maintains the site, says it includes the latest state and local compensation data available -- 2011 for state and higher education, 2010 for cities, counties and special districts.

It's the first time that the numbers include wages and benefit data for 69 of the state's 72 community college districts.

Unlike The Bee's state pay database, however, the SCO's data doesn't include the names of individual employees.

The site "does remain a work in progress, and my office will continue to improve and expand this public pay project," Controller John Chiang said in a news release marking the relaunch.

Click here to open publicpay.ca.gov. You can view a menu of video tutorials about how to use the site by clicking here.

IMAGE: The report-building page on the state controller's revamped government employee compensation website. / www.publicpay.ca.gov

California's Department of Motor Vehicles rolled out a new online video campaign featuring "Answerman," who will "not only tickle your funny bone, he will answer many frequently asked questions such as how to register your car for the first time, how to get a California driver license, and what happens if your car fails the smog test among many others," DMV says.

The department has been on the cutting edge of how the state uses technology to interact with Californiai residents, such as deploying ATM-style kiosks in field offices and using the Internet to ease appointments and vehicle registration. It also was an early adopter of Facebook and Twitter.

Here's an example of the department's latest venture:

California takes more time to process initial unemployment claims than 40 other states, according to a new state audit of the Employment Development Department, as high-tech and telephone problems continue to plague the system.

For the quarter ending June 30, 2012, the department made 78 percent of initial payments within 14 days. The federal government considers 87 percent of initial benefits issued within 14 days to be acceptable.

The audit notes that unemployment fell in California from 12.3 percent in June 2010 to 10.4 percent in August 2012 and that initial claims dropped from 296,000 to 209,000.

"Although the State's unemployment rate has declined since 2010, the department still faces challenges in meeting acceptable timeliness levels," State Auditor Elaine Howle said in the report.

A multi-million judgement against the California Correctional Peace Officers Association is excessive, a union attorney said last week as he argued for a federal appeals court to overturn the award.

"The extent of the punitive judgments is staggering ... it seriously is crippling (for CCPOA)," Michael Berger told 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Andrew J. Kleinfeld, Jay S. Bybee and District Judge Roger T. Benitez. on Thursday.

Listen to the attorneys' arguments before the 9th Circuit Court (requires Windows Media Player).

Berger made his arguments for CCPOA in Dawe, et al. v. Corrections USA, et al. a federal defamation case brought by businessman Brian Dawe and another man, Gary Harkins against the union and an affiliated organization. A federal jury awarded them $12 million after finding union officials had defamed them. Judge Lawrence Karlton, who heard the case in Sacramento, lowered the award to $5 million, then ordered CCPOA to post property and cash as collateral during its appeal.

The union has made five quarterly deposits into a court-controlled account, $2,500,000 total so far.

Attorney Dan Baxter, who represents Dawe and Hawkins and also argued before the court on Thursday, asked the appellate court overturn Karlton's decision to reduce the award.

A new report by the Legislative Analyst's Office concludes California taxpayers have overpaid for two infrastructure projects that granted private businesses more sway in the process, but that the state could save big bucks through so-called "public-private partnerships" if they were executed properly.

State officials looked at Caltrans' and local governments' Presidio Parkway project in San Francisco and the Long Beach Courthouse, which is overseen by the state Administrative Office of the Courts. Both projects are still under construction. Each carries a taxpayer price tag of nearly $500 million and are being built through a public-private partnership.

Also known as "P3s," public-private partnerships usually are single-contract infrastructure agreements between a government entity and a private partner, often a consortium of several businesses. The private partner designs, builds, finances, operates and maintains the road, bridge or building. More traditional approaches to large public projects split the work between government agencies and several private firms that bid separately.

The LAO estimates the Presidio project could have been up to $140 million cheaper with a more traditional approach. Officials decided on a P3 based on several inaccurate estimates, including how competitive bidding would drive down construction costs. The courthouse project could have been up to $160 million less with a non-P3 approach.

Public-private partnerships can work for the state, the LAO said, but it needs to develop expertise to estimate costs and benefits correctly, pick the right projects and then negotiate the deals: "Based on our review of existing research, we believe that P3 procurement -- if done correctly -- has merit and may be the best procurement option for some of the state's infrastructure projects."

Legislative Analyst report: "Maximizing State Benefits from Public-Private Partnerships"

The Roundup: Jerry Brown's new challenge; Caltrans worker's killer faces death; big wins for unions

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Fri, Nov 09 2012 05:54:41

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.

Election Day is a lot like the Super Bowl: When it's finally over, everyone -- players, pundits and fans -- offer up hindsight analysis to explain the outcome.

So it is with today's State Worker column about union get-out-the-vote efforts to defeat Proposition 32 and how they helped Proposition 30 win.

In a post-election email, California Labor Federation spokesman Steve Smith called the phenomenon "the Proposition 32 effect."

We dealt with just one aspect of the political spillover that flowed from galvanizing labor groups against the payroll-deduction measure, but as Smith points out, it's likely that union muscle made a difference up and down the ballot -- including Democrats' historic supermajority takeover of both chambers of the California Legislature.

We've posted Smith's email below.

The Roundup: How Prop. 32 helped Prop. 30; $5 trillion public pension debt; Mich. union initiative loses

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Nov 08 2012 08:29:24

As we reported in the wee hours this morning, Proposition 32 has lost and Proposition 30, Jerry Brown's tax increase measure, has won.

When we asked State Worker blog users last week to forecast the votes on the politically linked measures, 34 percent of you correctly predicted the outcome.

Now here's a new question for you to ponder:

The union-backed campaign to defeat Proposition 32 declared victory just before midnight Tuesday.

The Yes on 32 campaign didn't concede defeat, but spokesman Jake Suski didn't sound optimistic for a comeback, either. Click here for more details on Capitol Alert.

ELECTION 2012
• Vote results: Customize your races
• Sacbee.com's Election Central: News, photos, video
• Voter Guide: Candidates, issues
• California propositions
• Sacramento Bee endorsements
• Live today: Tell us if you voted. Report what's going on at your polling place, in your neighborhood, at your workplace. Share a photo: email breakingnews@sacbee.com

The Roundup: Caltrans worker's alleged killer: 'I did it'; FL axes prison health jobs; Canada considers pension...

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Tue, Nov 06 2012 06:16:00

Former President Bill Clinton has jumped into the Proposition 32 fight in the last few days with recorded telephone messages urging voters give thumbs down to the campaign-finance measure on Tuesday's ballot.

Clinton, arguably the nation's most popular Democrat, also has been robocalling on behalf of candidate Ami Bera, who is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Dan Lungren in the hotly-contested the Sacramento region's 7th Congressional District race.

Clinton's call criticizes Proposition 32 as faux reform that helps special interests "put even more money into politics. It's arithmetic." It's produced by the union-backed No on 32 committee with major funding from the California Teachers Association Issues PAC Committee and the California State Capitol Service Employees Committee.

The measure's supporters say Proposition 32 is reasonable reform that will limit both union and corporate influence in California's state and local politics by prohibiting either group from making contributions directly to candidates or to candidate-controlled committees.

The measure doesn't rein in spending on independent expenditure campaigns, but unions couldn't use members' dues to play in that arena. Proposition 32 also bans spending payroll-deducted money -- including members' dues that are organized labor's sole funding source -- on political activities. Corporations would still have money to spend on politics because they fundraise with company resources and executive contributions.

PHOTO: Former President Bill Clinton at UC Davis stumps for Democrats on Oct. 9, 2012. / Sacramento Bee, Renee C. Byer

The Bee breaks down key ballot measures

Here are three quick videos produced by The Bee's Capitol Bureau staff that lay out the issues and politics of four key measures on the Tuesday ballot.

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Mon, Nov 05 2012 09:18:02

ELECTION 2012
• Vote results: Customize your races
• Sacbee.com's Election Central: News, photos, video
• Voter Guide: Candidates, issues
• California propositions
• Sacramento Bee endorsements

The Roundup: Mystery campaign money to be revealed; state workers battle outbreak; IA workers' pay

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Mon, Nov 05 2012 08:53:03

A former state employee faces up to two years in prison after a Sacramento jury convicted her of fraud and lying to investigators to obtain a state disability pension.

Lisa Trevino-Angelo, now 41, was a personnel specialist working part time for the Department of Motor Vehicles in 2008 when she applied for the tax-free benefit. She claimed that chronic pain, anxiety and fatigue left her virtually homebound and unable to raise a coffee cup to her lips.

Officials arrested her on suspicion of fraud in 2009 after CalPERS investigators collected four hours of videotape that showed Trevino-Angelo bowling in Elk Grove, lifting a toddler, jumping at a soccer game and shopping at several stores with bags in tow.

On Wednesday a jury concluded that she had filed a false benefit claim to CalPERS and made false statements to support it. Each misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum of one year in jail. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28.

"CalPERS is pleased by the verdict," said CalPERS spokeswoman Amy Norris. "We don't tolerate fraud and abuse of the system."

Trevino-Angelo's attorney, Michael Wise, could not be reached for comment.

We can never get everything we learn into a news story. "From the notebook" posts give you some of the extra details behind the news.

Here's the statistical breakdown and analysis by the Field Poll's Mark Dicamillo and Mervin Field of how likely voters plan to cast their ballots -- or already have -- on Proposition 32, the campaign finance measure. As our story in today's Bee notes, half of those asked said they intend to vote against measure and the gap has grown significantly between opponents and supporters in the last six weeks.

The Field Poll release this morning also includes a breakdown of Proposition 34, which aims to repeal California's death penalty. Bee colleague Sam Stanton wrote a front-page story from those numbers.

Scroll to the end of the document for the poll's methodology and the exact wording of the questions asked.

IMAGE: www.freeclipart.com

As expected, Phoenix-based nonprofit Americans for Responsible Leadership has appealed a court order that it submit to a state audit of the funding sources behind $11 million it contributed to a California committee fighting Proposition 30 and backing Proposition 32.

Click here for the story from The Bee's Kevin Yamamura.

California State Auditor Elaine Howle has been named one of the nation's best government leaders by Governing magazine, a nonpartisan publication that covers state and local governance.

Howle was among eight people recognized as Public Officials of the Year by the magazine.

In a news release, Governing praised Howle for her "tireless efforts to cut wasteful spending and failing programs and to make government run better."

Award winners are picked from nominations by readers, experts in the public
and private sectors and Governing's editors for their "leadership, courage, innovation, creativity and good management," the press release says.

PHOTO CREDIT: State Auditor Elaine Howle, left, presents her findings on the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee at the California State Capitol. May 10, 2011. Autumn Payne, Sacramento Bee file

The Roundup: Prop. 30 could pass; union perception versus reality; CA's prison guard beard ban

Storified by Jon Ortiz · Thu, Nov 01 2012 08:04:54