Govahvanatah Pulled the Trigger: Lowers Most State Employees Down to Minimum Wage, Some Down to Nothing

Well, the Govahvanatah did it. He lowered most state employees to minimum wage and others down to zero. Of course, as I mentioned last time and Ed Morrissey reiterated, State Controller John Chiang will ignore the order from the governor:

The Schwarzenegger administration today ordered State Controller John Chiang to reduce state worker pay for July to the federal minimum allowed by law -- $7.25 an hour for most state workers.

The instructions from the Department of Personnel Administration exclude roughly 37,000 state workers in six bargaining units that recently came to tentative labor agreements with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Some employees, such as doctors and lawyers, would get no pay because federal exempts them from any minimum wage requirement. Managers, supervisors and others who don't get paid for working more than 40 hours per week would receive $455 per week until a budget deal got done.

This didn’t work the first time that he tried it, and it was written on the wall on the titantron in big, bold letters that the State Controller John Chiang was going to ignore the executive order. So, why do it? It looks like kabuki to me.

It’s Come to This: Schwarzenegger Threatens to Lower CA State Workers’ Wages to Minimum If State Budget Not Passed

Apparently, the Govahnatah is prepared to hit the nuclear button, if the Democratic-controlled California legislature fails to pass a budget this year:

After enduring more than a year of unpaid monthly furlough days, state workers could see their pay cut to minimum wage until Sacramento strikes a budget accord this summer, according to a memo from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration sent Wednesday.

This may end up being an empty threat, however, because the men that actually signs the checks for California’s state employees have gone on the record to saying that he will take that take it under advisement and refuse to follow that potential order. Still, this shows how dire the deficit situation is in California.

Governator Finds Fiscal Backbone; Uses Line-Item Veto to Cut $656M Democrats Refused to Cut

Schwarzenegger finds his fiscally responsible backbone and stands up to Democrats in the state legislature:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made additional cuts to child welfare programs, medical care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts Tuesday as he signed an $85 billion compromise spending plan that he called "the good, the bad and the ugly."

Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto authority to save an additional $656 million that will let the state restore a reserve fund he says is needed for tough times.

While "child welfare programs, medical care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts" are all well and good, they are not too big and need to be trimmed down, or the whole state government will fall into bankruptcy. It's about time, we saw Arnold return to what brought him to the dance in the first place, that is being fiscally responsible.