Is Jerry Brown's hiring freeze working?

In an email from the California Republican Party citing the Sacramento Bee the following proclamation was made:
According to the SacBee's State Worker column, we're nearly four months into Jerry's state government hiring freeze. So how's it going? From Feb. 15 through May 25, the government hired 1,516 employees, according to state controller's payroll data. Here's another way to view it: If you added up the initial paychecks for those new-to-government hires, you'd have about $3 million.

The blurb is missing some important information which paints a much clearer picture and was included in the original article from the Sacramento Bee but was omitted from the CRP email.  I don't like many of Brown's policies but let's call it the way it is and not the way we want it to appear.

(from SacBee)

Pretty loose hiring clamp, you say? Not really.

Hiring is down about 40 percent per month, on average, from seven months prior to the hiring freeze.

 

Schwarzenegger didn't order a hiring freeze during those last months. He didn't trust the bureaucracy. He also wanted the immediate payroll savings from his 2008, 2009 and 2010 furlough orders, believing that the state's fiscal crises justified the controversial policy.

Brown, no lover of furloughs, is letting the slower process of attrition take hold. So while the state was welcoming those 1,500 employees aboard – many of them part-time or at entry-level pay – it said bon voyage to 2,349 retirees, according to CalPERS data. Those employees tend to be at the high end of the pay scale.

 

Senior staff in Brown's office added a hiring chill factor by personally reviewing all state employment proposals after they've gone through a financial analysis.

Schwarzenegger would never have done that, said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, a state labor expert at UCLA's Anderson School of Management: "He wasn't into micromanaging. Grand themes were more his area."

With the state still trying to close a $10 billion budget gap, Brown spokeswoman Elizabeth Ashford puts it another way: "We're keeping a close eye on the shop. We have to."

So what about all those hires in corrections, the tax board and mental health?

Brown's freeze order exempts some jobs such as frontline hospital staff, public safety employees, and tax and fee collectors.

It's the kind of nuanced policymaking that sometimes eluded Schwarzenegger. He ordered furloughs for everyone but firefighters and CHP officers in 2008, then added tax collectors to the exemption list nearly two years later after seeing evidence that the state lost $7 in revenue for every $1 the furloughs saved.

Since February, just six departments account for 80 percent of the new hiring. The jobs they're filling fall into those exempt categories: licensed and vocational nurses, correctional officers, tax board seasonal clerks and the like.

It's getting harder to hire on with the state, and Jerry Brown likes it that way.

Once you read the article and see the data in its entirety, you see the hiring freeze (or hiring slow-down) is becoming effective. 

My suggestion to the CRP is to choose data and articles a little better.  The Republican Party needs to take the high road and not promulgate misleading information.  Regaining credibility needs to become a priority for the Party.

A closer look at the numbers shows that Brown, a pro-public employee Democrat, is stingier with government jobs than his predecessor, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

PROTECT FISHING!

Oppose unfair licensing requirements and costly regulations all designed to generate revenue, a.k.a. NEW TAXES!!!

After more than 30 years, the California Department of Fish and Game is trying to require recreational fishermen to purchase a fishing license (a.k.a. PAY TAXES) to catch privately stocked fish (currently NOT taxed) on private property (already paying property taxes) as well as at private fee for fishing lakes (small businesses) - and proposing, unnecessary and very costly regulations that will be mandated for every fresh water hatchery, fish farm and nearly anybody that purchases and stocks fish in California.

Such regulations will put small business owners who stock fishing holes out of business - and deny access to recreational fishing! Without affordable local fishing, how long will it be before all the fish in California are GONE?  Will Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts ever be able to earn their respective merit badges?

Please contact Governor Jerry Brown and the Department of Fish and Game today. Let them know that California's economy can't afford this plan! To do this, visit CARF's "Take Action" page. Your voice needs to be heard - it's quick and easy - and VERY IMPORTANT!

 

To learn more how these new plans threaten your favorite fishing hole and jobs, visit http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=weyj8qeab&et=1104986341688&s=71&e=001w0DtEcem7yv7kcCoIUDCSd6Tc9iepJVm47Ak3kHYNLdVjNd4aNowjpljuPCp-tUp3dZigOR7qU6hHtDAE-ZnjX08MPUSDDDhTwLKIvQKTMfyQYW-z4ojNA==.  

PS: Attention fee for fishing lake operators - visit the "Take Action" page to learn how you can help too.

Controller Comments on Governor’s Decision to Drop Sale-Leaseback Proposal

PR11:06
2/9/2011

Contact: Jacob Roper
916-445-2636

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang today issued the following statement regarding Governor Brown’s decision to drop the proposal to sell, then lease back, several state-owned buildings:

“This decision shows Governor Brown is serious about ending the budget gimmicks and sideshows. Only real, on-going solutions will improve our balance sheet and solve our annual fiscal problems.”

“While the sale of these buildings would have provided immediate cash for the state, it would have cost Californians more over the long haul. Selling low and renting high would not have served taxpayers' interests.

###

Email From Steve Poizner for Governor

In Case You Missed It:

California's Governor Race Shows Signs Of A Scott Brown-Like Victory For Poizner

By Kimberly Dvorak

San Francisco Examiner

May 6, 2010

With GOP Senator Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts as inspiration, Steve Poizner’s campaign has risen from the dead and pulled within 10 points of Meg Whitman in the Republican primary race for governor.

While the numbers come from internal polling, the outfit providing the intel is none other than Senator Scott Brown’s public polling firm. The numbers demonstrate “how fluid the race is,” said Neil Newhouse of Public Opinion Strategies.

The polling concluded on Tuesday and demonstrated that the 800 likely Republican voters were taking a second look at Poizner. Approximately 38 percent said they would vote for Whitman, while 28 percent favored Poizner and 30 percent were undecided. Just over a month ago Whitman led by nearly 50 points.

Newhouse said that outside the San Francisco Bay Area, Whitman’s lead is cut to five points, 35 to 30 percent with a month to go until the primary election. “This race is eerily similar to the Brown, Coakley race,” he said.

“Where we are running our messaging, we have closed from 48 points down to five points. Meg, the marketing expert, needs a refresher course because she probably could have spent less than $70 million to lose 43 points, but at least she provided a bailout for her political consultants who she needs to remind her of her deeply held beliefs,” said Team Poizner Communications Director Jarrod Agen. “We all know Meg went on a climate change cruise with Van Jones and Jimmy Carter, now she’s become the most expensive melting glacier in political history.”

The California Republican governor’s race has now shown signs of life and with 30 days until voters hit the booth, Poizner’s camp says the energy has shifted in their favor.

“Our poll shows that Meg Whitman’s lead over Steve Poizner, which we measured at 59%-11% in February, has closed to 38%-28%, with Whitman holding just a ten-point lead,” Agen explains. “Further, it’s important to note that even though Whitman has spent considerable resources in the area, Steve has not yet aggressively advertised in the San Francisco Bay Area market. “

Poizner’s camp explains that like the Scott Brown race in Massachusetts; ”this race has been largely misunderstood by the media. Campaigns, especially primary campaigns, and especially in large states like California, are seldom won three or four months out from election day.”

With the President discussing the immigration issue at a White House Cinco de Mayo event and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano saying the Democrats are “focused on the border like a laser,” a fair question for Poizner is the immigration issue that has exploded across the nation.

“The federal government has not done enough to end illegal immigration, leaving states like Arizona and California to take fend for themselves,” said Team Poizner’s Agen. “Like Meg Whitman, President Obama has called for an amnesty plan that allows illegal immigrants to pay a fine, go to the back of the line, and become citizens. Steve Poizner strongly opposes amnesty and he is the only candidate in this race that is willing to make ending illegal immigration a top priority.”

Since Arizona passed its tough new illegal immigration law, many California cities have decided to boycott or denounce Arizona. Poizner says he would ‘get tough’ on the issue in California if were governor.
 “Steve supports Arizona’s new law, which takes a bold approach to dealing with illegal immigration while making it crystal clear that racial profiling is both illegal and wrong. Arizona has acted because the federal government has failed to secure our borders,” Agen said. “It is time for California to do the same and, as governor, Steve pledges to make stopping illegal immigration one of his highest priorities. He has detailed a bold plan to address the crisis, which includes cutting off taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens, employing state resources to help secure our borders, ending sanctuary cities, and cracking down on employers who hire illegal aliens”

Poizner points out while Whitman and her liberal allies in Congress want to reward illegal aliens with a 'pathway to citizenship,' he has just two words: ‘No Amnesty.’
Read the article here.

What do internet taxes and joint checking accounts have in common?

Oh Meg, oh Meg, where art thou thousands? To where have you placed them now?

Not at the polls for it is clear, technology taxes your greatest fear.

Oh Steve, oh Steve, where art thou thousands? To where have you placed them now?

Neither your bank nor pockets are safe no more, for your wife has given it all to Gore.