CALIFORNIA—Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to sign an executive order on Thursday, August 1, that will cause 22,000 California state workers to lose their jobs.    The loss could result in fewer food safety inspections and longer waits at state-run offices like the Department of Motor Vehicles.  The order will also include the wage decrease for more than 200,000 regular state employees under the governor’s control to the federal minimum wage of $6. 55 an hour and will remain that way until a state budget is passed.   There will also be a hiring freeze that will be enforced until the budget decision is made. 

Disagreements between lawmakers on the spending plan for the fiscal year, which began July 1, have caused the delay of a defined state budget. 

The regular state workers are going to be reimbursed for their loss of wages once the state budget has been decided but the other 22,000 workers will be out of a job.   Schwarzenegger’s tactic is designed to put pressure on lawmakers to strike a budget deal promptly but others in the state government are already challenging the order.

Controller John Chiang, a Democrat, said that “Requiring a cut in pay for public employees — especially as they, like many other Californians, struggle with their mortgages and higher gas and food prices undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined undefined— will not only cause significant harm to those families, but also irreparably impact our economy by further eroding consumer spending.  I have made it crystal clear that we have, and will continue to have, sufficient cash to make all payments, including state payroll, through September.  Cutting workers' salaries will do nothing meaningful to improve our cash position or help us make our priority payments.”

Schwarzenegger told the media on Tuesday, July 29, that “Being governor, I have to make sure that we pay our bills and that we have the money.” 

Meanwhile, health care workers, inspectors and prison workers will be either doing the same job for less pay or receiving a pink slip in a time where the unemployment rate has been at its highest.  They have to make sure they also pay their bills and have the money to survive.