Brown administration officials met with the state employee union leaders last week, according to sources familiar with the meetings, to warn them that the next version of the governor's budget will include an unspecified cut in employee costs up to 10 percent.

The administration in January estimated that California is confronting a $9.2 billion deficit through 2012-13, but a recent state analysis concluded the actual gap is considerably more.

The sources, who declined to talk on the record because the administration asked all involved to keep the discussions secret, said Brown told the unions he was seeking $750 million in state employee cost savings for fiscal 2012-13..

LINK - SacBee.com

Read the Full Member Alert (.pdf format)

...The state budget is a reflection of priorities and there is no reason to hold our schools hostage to the uncertainties of the proposed tax increase initiative that may not benefit our students. With political will, we can work together in a bipartisan manner to ensure that our schools are protected from trigger cuts, whether the Governor's tax initiative is ultimately accepted or rejected by the voters... 

View the Full Letter (.pdf format)

Legislative Republicans rolled out a budget plan Thursday that relies on cutting state worker pay, eliminating affordable housing funds and using pots of money dedicated for mental health and childhood development.

Republicans believe their plan eliminates the state's $9.2 billion deficit without new taxes and preserves the same amount of funding for education that existed last year. They say it undercuts Gov. Jerry Brown's argument that voters must pass higher taxes in November to spare schools from deep reductions.

"The state budget is a reflection of priorities and there is no reason to hold our schools hostage to the uncertainties of the proposed tax increase initiative that may not benefit our students," GOP legislative and budget leaders wrote in a joint letter. "With political will, we can work together in a bipartisan manner to ensure that our schools are protected from trigger cuts, whether the Governor's tax initiative is ultimately accepted or rejected by the voters..."

LINK - SacBee.com

To briefly summarize a few facts: 

• For the TB Respirator, questions 1-9 are mandated by Cal OSHA and can be found in Appendix C to Section 5144.
• For the Chemical Agent Respirator, quesetions 1-15 are mandated by Cal OSHA and can also be found in Appendix C to Section 5144.
• The questionnaires are retained by the physician doing the testing, CDCR does not get a copy of the completed questionnaire.
• The State is required by law (Title 8. CCR Section 5144) to fit test its employees.

See the link below to view the full memo and corresponding documentation...

View the Documents (.pdf file)

With about 14,000 fewer inmates in its prisons because most of them have been transferred to county jails, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is sending notices to 548 workers that they will lose their jobs.

The first wave of firings is set for Feb. 29. A second round is expected in the fall.

Those losing their jobs include about 140 guards...

LINK - CentralValleyBusinessTimes.com

Of the 545 layoff warning notices the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sent out last week, only seven went to employees of the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.

As part of a state prison realignment that is slated to reduce the prison population by 33,000 within two years by moving some offenders to county jails, staff numbers are also slated to decline. Throughout the state prison system, there are now 14,000 fewer inmates than there were six months ago...

LINK - CalCoastNews.com

View the Document (.pdf format)

View the Document (.pdf format)

View the Document (.pdf format)