Expect to hear more, much more, in the next few months of budget talks about the possibility of cutting state workers' pay down to the minimum wage to conserve cash.
Just don't expect it to happen.
Gov. Schwarzenegger has had a hard time finding leverage in budget negotiations, and state law permits him to reduce state workers' pay in certain circumstances. Over the two years of the recession and budget crisis, he has preferred instead to furlough workers on Fridays, but it appears that the furloughs may be reversed (with costly back pay) by the courts. So the threat of busting state workers back to minimum wage -- a gun pointed at the Democrats' big backers in the government union -- is the next option, the Sacramento Bee reports.
If Schwarzenegger's history is any guide, he'll make the threat but won't follow through.
