A contract with California's correctional officers got an earlier governor in trouble, and the newest one is raising questions, too, with provisions that allow the unlimited banking of vacation time. The LAT's Jack Dolan has the story.
"The governor is extending
this benefit only to members of the California Correctional Peace Officers
Assn., a union that spent nearly $2 million to help him win election last year."
"Removing the decades-old limit on accrued vacation
— now 80 days for most state employees — would be a "huge liability"
for taxpayers, said Nick Schroeder of the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's
Office. Schroeder said he had not determined the cost of lifting the cap, but
his analysis of the deal showed the average corrections union member has
accumulated nearly 19 weeks of leave time to date. All of that time off has
"a current cash value of over $600 million," he said."
"The deal also would give the members 18 more days
off over the life of the two-year contract, according to Schroeder, bringing
the typical prison guard's time off to more than eight weeks in the first year."
The prison guards may be doing okay, but not the students: Three UC campuses, including Berkeley, are cutting back on admissions of California students and out-of-state students -- who pay more tuition -- are on the rise.
From Nanette Asimov in the Chronicle: "All UC campuses offered admission to more California residents than nonresidents, 78 to 22 percent, on average, including international students. But the trend at the Berkeley, San Diego and Riverside campuses reflects a new willingness by the UC regents to enroll more higher-paying students from outside the state."
"Nonresidents pay about $35,000 versus $12,000, including campus fees. UC Berkeley is offering admission to 17 percent fewer California residents than in 2009: from 11,184 to 9,303."
"At the same time, its out-of-state offers have nearly tripled since then: from 1,026 to 2,920. Offers to international students rose from 743 to 2,022."
"Fewer than 10 percent of nonresidents are expected to enroll, said Pamela Burnett, interim director of UC admissions. That would be up from 6.5 percent this year."
Those cuts threaten California's Master Plan for Education, which guarantees every qualified California student a place in the university. The Bay Citizen's Jennifer Gollan has the story.
"These are very difficult times for the university,” said
Pamela Burnett, interim director of Undergraduate Admissions at UC, in a
conference call with reporters. “Faced with staggering budget reductions from
the state of California, we have sharply curtailed enrollment growth... We now
enroll more than 11,000 California students for whom we receive no state
enrollment funding.”
"UC concedes that more students are being turned away from
their top choice of campuses, in order to make room for out-of-state or
international students, who pay higher tuition."
“We have had to make very difficult decisions to turn
away students who we know would thrive,” Burnett said. “But with the
constraints that we have there are probably more California residents who are
not being offered admission to the campus of their choice.”
Meanwhile, the California Teachers Association went to the air waves Monday with a statewide TV spot urging state lawmakers to craft a solution to budget mess. The Bee's Kevin Yamamura has the story.
"The state's largest teachers union diverged last week
from Gov. Jerry Brown on whether the state should ask voters to extend higher
tax rates on sales, vehicles and income. Brown promised last year he would not
raise taxes without a vote – and said last week it was a matter of public
sovereignty."
"CTA's new 30-second spot does not mention taxes, nor does
it refer to the Democratic governor's proposal for a public vote. Instead, it
portrays budget spending as crucial to bolstering the economy and schools and says
another round of cuts would be devastating. Spokeswoman Sandra Jackson said the
ad is airing across the state on broadcast and cable stations."
"It's time for lawmakers to finally get the problem
solved now," the ad states. "Our kids and economy can't afford to
wait." The state still faces a $15.4 billion deficit after
leaders enacted $11.2 billion in mostly health and welfare cuts and fund shifts
last month."
In Orange County, a Republican Central Committee member has apologized for sending out an email with an image depicting President Obama as a chimp, but county GOP leader Scott Baugh says an apology isn't enough.
From the Register's Martin Wisckol: "Baugh said earlier that state
law prevents the committee from removing the Fullerton member from her post,
and can only condemn her action. Davenport was not at Monday’s meeting.”
“Davenport’s email on Friday photoshopped Obama’s face on the
photo of a chimp, with the text, “Now you know why no birth certificate,” a
reference to those who believe Obama was not U.S. born and have asked for
additional proof of his citizenship.”
“When the media began reporting
on the controversy on Saturday, Davenport wrote an email saying, “I’m sorry if
my email offended anyone.” She then went on to say she didn’t think the email
was offensive and that the media didn’t give similar press to attacks on George
W. Bush during
his presidency.”
Los Angeles County officials have crafted a proposed $23 billion budget that avoids employee layoffs and furloughs. Maybe the Legslature could learn a few tips from LA's money handling. The Daily Breeze's Christina Villacorte tells the tale.
"Even though it represents a $1 billion drop in spending
compared to last year, Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka called the plan
a "balanced budget without a critical reduction in services of any sort,
and (one that) also avoids any major layoffs."
"But he also acknowledged that it does not factor in
potentially dramatic cutbacks in funding from the state and federal governments
that have yet to be determined."
"Fujioka's plan to eliminate the deficit includes $35.7
million in operational spending cuts and $184.3 million in "one-time
budget solutions."
"The latter includes cobbling together surplus money that
did not get spent last year from various projects, using certain local taxes to
support programs in unincorporated cities, and creating a new financing
structure for capital programs."
And now, let's look into the "Wild Blue Yonder" file to learn about the case of an air traffic controller who didn't fall asleep at the switch -- but was watching a DVD when he was supposed to be tracking planes.
"An air traffic controller has been suspended for
watching a movie when he was supposed to be monitoring aircraft, deepening the
Federal Aviation Administration's embarrassment following at least five cases
of controllers sleeping on the job."
"In the latest incident, the controller was watching a
movie on a DVD player early Sunday morning while on duty at a regional radar
center in Oberlin, Ohio, near Cleveland that handles high-altitude air traffic,
the FAA said in a statement Monday."
"The controller's microphone was inadvertently activated,
transmitting the audio of the movie -- the 2007 crime thriller
"Cleaner," starring Samuel L. Jackson -- for more than three minutes
to all the planes in the airspace that the controller was supposed to be
monitoring, the agency said."
"The controller's microphone became stuck in the transmit
position, preventing him from hearing incoming radio calls or issuing
instructions to planes during the incident, the agency said."
Good movie, though...
