Gov. Brown strips cell phones from state employees

Jerry Brown's Cell Phone Crackdown
Sacramento, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cell phone, and he's ordered half the state Bureaucrats who have government-paid cell phones to do the same. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be equipped with Taxpayer-funded cell phones," the new Governor said Tuesday. "The current number of phones out there is astounding." Brown used his first Executive Order since taking office a week ago to instruct department heads to c...

California swipes state employee cell phones
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Don't get too attached to those work cell phones, California employees. Half of you are going to lose them in coming months. In his first Executive Order, Gov. Jerry Brown is requiring the return of 48,000 government-paid cell phones by June 1. He said he found it difficult to believe that 40% of State Employees needed a work phone. Email Print Comment The move will save the cash-strapped state $20 million a year. It comes a day after Brown announced a draconian Budget ...

California slashes official cell phone use
Stumble This! Los Angeles — New California Governor Jerry Brown ordered Tuesday the confiscation of half of the cell phones used by Public Employees in the state, as he slashes its Budget to rein in a huge Deficit. Brown, a Veteran Democrat who took over from Republican former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger this month, said far too many Civil Servants had their Mobile Phones provided from the public purse. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be ...

Gov. Jerry Brown orders California workers to turn in 48,000 cellphones
Reporting from Sacramento — Strike from the list of state workers' perks a free cellphone on which to gab. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday ordered tens of thousands of State Employees to turn in their Mobile Phones. Brown, a notorious tightwad, says he can't imagine that their 96,000 cellphones are necessary for the people's business, and he wants the number cut in half. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40% of all State Employees must be equipped with Taxpayer-funded cellphones," Bro...

Calif. governor orders 48,000 cellphones confiscated
Sacramento, Calif. — Alarmed at discovering that the state pays for 96,000 cellphones, California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an Executive Order Tuesday seeking to cut in half the number of devices being billed to Taxpayers. Requiring 48,000 cellphones to be turned in by June 1 will save the state about $20 million a year. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cellphones," Brown said. "Some state employees, including d...

Gov. Brown: Why Should State Workers Have 96,000 State-funded Cell Phones??
WHY, INDEED???  It’s not a HUGE Budget item, but it’s SYMBOLIC of uber-government.  Sacramento, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday directed state agency and department heads to collect and turn in 48,000 government-paid cell phones — half of those now in use — by June 1.  KCRA 3 reported on Monday that Brown was planning the move in an effort to cut a $25.4 billion Budget Deficit.  Brown, who issued the directive via his first Executive Order s...

...to disconnect 48,000 cell phones in hands of state workers...
Alarmed at discovering that the state pays for 96,000 cellphones, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an Executive Order Tuesday seeking to cut in half the number of devices being billed to Taxpayers. Requiring 48,000 cellphones to be turned in by June 1 will save the state about $20 million a year. “It is difficult for me to believe that 40% of all State Employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cellphones,” Brown said. “Some state employees, including department and agency ex...

California Budget: Jerry Brown Dials Back Bureaucrats' Cell Phones
Sacramento, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cell phone, and he's ordering half the state Bureaucrats who have the devices to do the same. Brown said Tuesday there's no need for four of every 10 California State Employees to have Taxpayer-funded cell phones. He says some employees may need to stay in touch around the clock, seven days a week, but the proliferation of cell phones is astounding. Brown used his first Executive Order to instruct department heads to cu...

Illinois races toward cliff
The Lame Duck Illinois state Senate has passed a massive Tax Increase: Quinn smiled and shook hands on the floor of the Senate around 1:30 a.m. after the Senate voted 30-29 for the bill, which would raise the Personal Income tax-rate by 67 percent and the business Income Tax rate by 46 percent. Yes, you read that right. Increases of 67 and 46 percent. “So here we are in the very end of this Lame Duck session on a late night putting more burden on the hardworking people of this state,...

LA County CEO: Brown's Budget Will Hurt
Los Angeles - A top public official said Tuesday he's worried about whether Los Angeles County will have enough funding to support Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to shift a host of responsibilities from the state to counties. County CEO Bill Fujioka told county supervisors that California's most populous county should embrace Brown's proposal to restructure State Government to help resolve a projected $25.4 billion Deficit. Brown on Monday called for $12.5 billion in Spending Cuts, including reduct...

Calif. state workers: Turn in cellphones
SACRAMENTO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Half of California's 96,000 Taxpayer-funded cellphones for state workers must be turned in -- and thousands of cars and vans may be next, Gov. Jerry Brown said. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be equipped with Taxpayer-funded cellphones," Brown said Tuesday in ordering 48,000 state workers' phones turned in by June. "The current number of phones out there is astounding," said Brown, a Democrat, who took over last week fr...

California slashes official cell phone use
New California Governor Jerry Brown ordered Tuesday the confiscation of half of the cell phones used by Public Employees in the state, as he slashes its Budget to rein in a huge Deficit. Brown, a Veteran Democrat who took over from Republican former film star Arnold Schwarzenegger this month, said far too many Civil Servants had their Mobile Phones provided from the public purse. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be equipped with Taxpayer-funded cel...

Gov. Jerry Brown begins wooing GOP support for tax plan
Reporting from Sacramento — Before Gov. Jerry Brown can ask voters to ratify the multibillion-dollar tax plan he says will rescue California's finances, he must win over a handful of Republicans with a combination of charm, arm-twisting and Compromise — a task he's already begun. The Democratic Governor needs as few as four GOP votes to place a measure on the ballot that would extend $9 billion in recent tax hikes — levies Republicans have opposed. "I will … go into th...

Brown's budget gets mixed reviews, San Bernardino County assemblymembers react
Days after California’s Governor released his Budget proposal reactions have been mixed, ranging from cautious optimism to rejections of various aspects. San Bernardino County’s two Democratic assemblymembers said they were pleased Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown released a proposal that was not based on budgeting gimmicks and that would allow lawmakers to produce an on-time Balanced Budget. They also said they were pleased Brown was honest with voters and put forward ideas that would no...

California Governor Cuts Taxpayer-Funded Cell Phone Use for State Bureaucrats
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 By Don Thompson, Associated Press Sacramento, Calif.  (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cell phone, and he's ordering half the state Bureaucrats who have the devices to do the same. Brown said Tuesday there's no need for four of every 10 California State Employees to have Taxpayer-funded cell phones. He says some employees may need to stay in touch around the clock, seven days a week, but the proliferation of cell phones is astounding. Brown u...

Dialing back: Calif governor targets cell phones
Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cell phone, and he's ordering half the state Bureaucrats who have the devices to do the same. Brown said Tuesday there's no need for four of every 10 California State Employees to have Taxpayer-funded cell phones. He says some employees may need to stay in touch around the clock, seven days a week, but the proliferation of cell phones is astounding. Brown used his first Executive Order to instruct department heads to cut off 48,000 state employee c...

An older, bolder Gov. Jerry Brown deserves kudos for his budget plan
Gov. Brown is showing a willingness to take big risks in his share-the-pain plan to close the Budget gap It's a different Gov. Jerry Brown we're seeing these days — a subtle but significant difference between Brown I and Brown II. The Brown who was Governor at age 36 would not have been as bold — as calmly willing to stick his neck way out — as the 72-year-old version. The contrast—along with a stark stylistic difference between Brown and predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Deal warns of cuts, promises progress in first State of the State
Gov. Nathan Deal on Wednesday vowed to end teacher Furloughs while also proposing deep cuts to Higher Education and no Pay Raise for State Employees. Ga. Politics news, helpful links PolitiFact Georgia » New Georgia Encyclopedia: Georgia lawmakers fuel up for the session by feasting on "wild" hogs. Deal delivered his First State of the State address to a joint session of the House and Senate just two days after taking the oath of office in the same chamber after the brutal wint...

California Reintroduces Its Own Dream Act
The DREAM Act is back, in California at least. Today Assemblyman Gil Cedillo re-introduced the DREAM Act which would allow undocumented youth who are accepted to college the ability to apply for institutional Financial Aid and state grants from the state’s public universities, state and community colleges. Cedillo’s new strategy is to split the bill in two. The San Jose Mercury News reports that one bill would allow undocumented immigrant Students who are California residents to appl...

Think Tank Hypocrisy in the Public Retirement Arena: A Response
Gary Findlay, Executive Director of the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System confronts critics of current Pension Accounting standards not with substantive arguments, but through a series of ad hominem attacks and non sequiturs (see Academic and Think Tank Hypocrisy In the Public Retirement Arena). As one of the producers of what Mr. Findlay terms "think tank diatribes" in favor of market valuation of Public Pension liabilities, a response seems in order. Public Sector pensions adhe...

Developer, Norfolk abandon lease guarantee for office building
NORFOLK Faced with certain defeat, developers withdrew their request to the City Council on Tuesday for additional incentives to construct a $32.7 million office tower in a low-income neighborhood. The council had previously approved leasing 60,000 square feet in the Midtown Office Building for the city's Human Services Department. However, it balked when Tivest Development asked the city to guarantee taking over 65,000 additional square feet should a private social service organization not be a...

California's governor to dial back state-issued cellphones
Contracts on each cellphone cost California Taxpayers an average of $36 a month, or $432 a year. (Rich Pedroncelli, The Associated Press ) Sacramento, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown is hanging up his state-issued cellphone, and he has ordered half the state Bureaucrats who have government-paid cellphones to do the same. "It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all State Employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cellphones," the new Governor said Tuesday. "The current number o...

Assessing Christie's State of the State: On Education
On Tuesday afternoon, Governor Chris Christie gave his State of the State Address. As Christie stated at the start of his address,  the state is "getting better every day." Beyond Pension reform and fiscal restraint, Education Reform was Christie's third major tenant going forward in 2011. Chief among his goals for reforming the state's educational system were eliminating teacher tenure and expanding Charter Schools. Attempting to project a serious and balanced approach to how to properly f...

Cuomo Shocked By State Police Pay Raises
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was “shocked” by the State Police’s reported $600,000 Pay Raises to Top Officials and that he was reviewing the issue. “Surprise and shock, how about that? We’re going to be reviewing it as part of the Budget process, but I was surprised and shocked as I think most New Yorkers,” Cuomo said when asked about the raises during a news conference at the State Police headquarters in Albany. The news conference was held to discuss the stat...

Illinois' deficit reduction scheme
by Linda Beale Illinois' Deficit reduction scheme crossposted with Ataxingmatter States have generally suffered during this economic crisis much the way most people have--there's been less money coming in as sales receipts slowed during the Recession, more services needed as many become Homeless, insuranceless and generally more vulnerable during the Recession, and bills have continued to pile up (including for mundane things like utilities and print jobs and more long-term commitments like...