Pay shrinks under Sandoval

State board OKs $176 million contract to oversee Medicaid
CARSON CITY — Despite the complaint of a rival, a five-year, $176.9 million contract has been awarded to HP Enterprise Services to take over the bill-paying and Fraud-checking in the state’s giant Medicaid program. The state Board of Examiners approved the contract after being assured by Mike Willden, the director of the State Department of Health and Welfare, that the state followed lawful bidding procedures. Rival company ACS State Healthcare claimed the state did not comply with the rules...

Hick: It aint about the salary
It was pointed out to incoming Gov. John Hickenlooper today that if his plan turns out to be legal, Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia will be making more than him. Hickenlooper plans to appoint Garcia as head of the Department of Higher Education, giving the Lieutenant Governor a major responsibility and saving on Salary. The idea is that Garcia will get paid $146,040, the salary for a director of higher education, but $68,500 of that amount will be his salary as lieutenant Governor. So, it would represent ...

Gov. Brian Sandoval releases salaries of his staff members
CARSON CITY – Breaking with tradition, Gov. Brian Sandoval on Monday released the salaries of his 16 staff members, the highest being the annual $124,988 earned by Heidi Gansert, his Chief of Staff. The breakdown shows senior adviser Dale Erquiaga will earn $119,997 and deputy chief of staff Ann Wilkinson will earn $103,815. All staff members are subject to a 4.6 percent reduction from the listed salaries, which affects all State Employees. In the past the pay of those working in the Govern

Public Divided on Pay Cuts For State Employees
Only 40% of adults favor a 10% across the board Pay Cut for Public Employees. Government has grown so large over the last few decades, almost everyone has a friend or relative on the public Payroll. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 40% of Adults favor a 10% Pay Cut for all State Employees to help reduce state spending. Forty-one percent (41%), however, oppose an across-the-board Pay Cut like this. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, ...

"We Are Turning Our State Around," Christie Vows
With Unemployment inching down, Republican Chris Christie gave his First State of the State address to legislators while taking credit for the modest improvements he sees. "We still have much to do," Christie said, a phrase he could have borrowed from President Obama or many other past political speeches. Nonetheless, Christie said New Jersey is positioning itself to be a leader once again. "To show real change you gotta go in and show a little Jersey Attitude," he said. The ...

Bill would prevent names of public employees from release with their salaries
A bill introduced by Sen. Stephen H. Martin, R-Chesterfield, would prevent the names of Public Employees and officials from being released with information about their salaries. As proposed, Senate Bill 812 would amend Virginia Freedom of Information Act laws to exclude names from release with compensation information. "In my judgment, it's not necessary for the public to know who makes exactly what," Martin said by phone Tuesday. Martin said the bill was introduced in response to a state sal...

Legislature briefs
Legislature briefs 12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Christy Hoppe and Terrence Stutz Amid the family, supporters and yellow roses that filled the Capitol on Tuesday's opening day, there also were quips, observations and a pervading sense of gathering storm clouds in the form of deep Budget cuts. Here's a sampling: SELLING CONSERVATIVE CAUSES Gov. Rick Perry made the rounds to champion conservative causes, saying he wants to fast-track bills to end so-called sanctuary cities and st...

Nevada Youth Legislature calling for state lottery
CARSON CITY — The Nevada Youth Legislature are pushing for a state lottery to help finance the public schools. The Youth Legislature, made up of 21 high-school-age Students, is sponsoring a Senate Joint Resolution in the 2011 Legislature to amend the Nevada Constitution to allow a state lottery. It will be the first resolution introduced in the Senate that gets under way Feb. 7. But a lottery faces an uphill battle. Gov. Brian Sandoval opposes a lottery, and the gaming industry has lobbied aga...

Court overrules Sandoval, sides with gambler in case against Venetian
CARSON CITY - A federal appeals court has ruled that Gov. Brian Sandoval while he was a federal District Judge committed an error in a case in which the Venetian is trying to collect on a $499,000 marker from a California gambler. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says player Amine T. Nehme should have been permitted to introduce evidence that he says shows he doesn’t have to pay the marker. Nehme was a heavy gambler with a line of credit in 2004 and 2005, which he covered. But a man n...

McDonnell, GOP leaders unveil legislative package
Amid heightened security, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Republican leaders unveiled on Tuesday a legislative agenda that emphasizes Job Creation, private property rights and protections against union organizing. The agenda, titled "Smaller Government, Stronger Economy," was discussed at a news conference in the Patrick Henry Building on the eve of the 46-day General Assembly session, which gets under way today. Reporters, who typically approach the Governor's lectern while he is speaking to place tape ...

Loophole a threat to Gov. Brian Sandoval's tax pledge
Carson City — About 70 percent of the state’s businesses would see their Payroll taxes increase if Gov. Brian Sandoval keeps his campaign promise to allow a 2009 tax package to expire. The reason: To sell that Legislation two years ago, Democrats included a mix of Tax Increases for bigger businesses, aimed at bringing in an additional $347 million, with Tax Cuts for a majority of smaller businesses struggling through a deep Recession. When asked about the issue by the Sun, the Sandoval a...

Martinez budget proposal cuts 3 percent
Susana Martinez says her Budget proposal, released Tuesday, will cut state spending by three percent and won’t raise taxes. The proposal is based on estimates from December 2010 that the state’s revenues will increase 4.4 percent from Fiscal Year 2011 to Fiscal Year 2012. Martinez’s Budget plan would cut administrative costs from education, roll back the film subsidy program put into place by Gov. Bill Richardson and sizably cut the state environment department. According to th...

Legislature convenes amid wintry blast
Snow and sleet did not delay the constitutionally mandated opening of the 2011 General Assembly Monday, and in the first two hours leaders in the Senate stripped the Lieutenant Governor of much of his power and House members easily re-elected David Ralston as Speaker. Ga. Politics news, helpful links PolitiFact Georgia » Ray McBerry: "You’ll find blacks in almost every regiment throughout the South who fought right alongside white Southerners," during the Civil War. One-h...

Paterson aide takes lobbying post
Lawyer Jeffrey Pearlman’s more than two-decade career in the Capitol apparently prepared him for lobbying as he is now working for Greenberg Traurig at its Albany office, a firm official said. Pearlman, 44, a 2000 graduate of Albany Law School, started his career in the Capitol as an intern in 1988 and served the Senate Democrats during David Paterson’s reign as Minority Leader. He joined Paterson on the executive’s legal staff when the Harlem Democrat became lieutenant gover...

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...

Gov. Brown strips cell phones from state employees
(01-11) 18:40 PST Oakland -- Gov. Jerry Brown issued his first Executive Order Tuesday, taking aim at a convenience that wasn't in vogue the last time he was the state's Top Official: cell phones. The Governor ordered state agency and department heads to collect half of the approximately 96,000 state-issued cell phones used by Public Employees, a move he said will save California at least $20 million a year. Brown also plans to return his own state-issued cell phone, said Evan Westrup, a spok...

Gov. Brown strips cell phones from state employees
(01-11) 18:40 PST Oakland -- Gov. Jerry Brown issued his first Executive Order Tuesday, taking aim at a convenience that wasn't in vogue the last time he was the state's Top Official: cell phones. The Governor ordered state agency and department heads to collect half of the approximately 96,000 state-issued cell phones used by Public Employees, a move he said will save California at least $20 million a year. Brown also plans to return his own state-issued cell phone, said Evan Westrup, a spok...

Budget Board Moves Unanimous
S.C. Gov.-elect Nikki Haley will have the unanimous support of the S.C. Budget and Control Board as she nominates a pair of former Mark Sanford appointments to lead this massive executive agency on Thursday. Haley received the support of S.C. Treasurer-elect Curtis Loftis on Tuesday for her nomination of Eleanor Kitzman as Executive Director of the Budget and Control Board and Marcia Adams as Kitzman’s Chief of Staff. Last Friday, Haley’s nominations were endorsed by the other three ...

California budget: Jerry Brown's proposal spares education deep cuts but still imposes pain
Educators exhaled Monday upon learning of Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed Budget, which largely spares K-12 schools the deep cuts inflicted on other areas served by state government. But for the next five months, they'll be figuratively holding their breaths again. That's because the $49.3 billion in K-12 funding -- $400 million less than the current Fiscal Year -- depends on voters passing a package of tax measures in June. "We're appreciative of the Governor not imposing further cuts to education,...

Parnell says pay raise is "reasonable"
From Sean Cockerham in Anchorage - Gov. Sean Parnell has no plans to turn down the $20,000 raise he has coming. The state Salary commission had initially proposed to give the Governor a $50,000 raise, but ended up paring the increase down to $20,000 on Friday. “The Governor is pleased the commission recognized the initial proposal was an excessive rate for the position. He believes the final proposal is reasonable given the pay freeze that has been in effect for the past 6 years,” Parnell

Breslin tapped deputy leader
ALBANY -- Sen. Neil Breslin has been tapped as deputy leader of the 26-member Democratic Conference, a post that requires him to coordinate the legislative flow on the chamber floor and serve as the second-in-command to Minority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn. "I think it brings honor to the County of Albany that I have been selected as deputy minority leader, but it also means that I will have a great deal of work to do to make sure that we get out of the $10 billion Deficit while at the same ...

Republican policies favor rich, special interests
The public got the shaft from the GOP manipulating Tax Cut package favoring the wealthy while adding to the Deficit. It's evident the Working Class lack priority among its leadership holding their welfare hostage during negotiations. Senior Citizens and disabled combat Veterans were denied $250 allowance with no increases in the last two years. Also, the exemption level for Social Security recipients' income being taxed hasn't been adjusted in decades, yet the inheritance tax was ...

Pension pay freeze proposal approved and ready
The proposal made by Councilman DeMaio to freeze city employee salaries used to pay for Pensions is in mid-course. On Monday, January 10, the City Attorney approved the proposal in a memorandum. The councilman will now stand up for the proposal he made in his Roadmap to Recovery Plan. Yesterday, he said, "With this analysis in hand, we have real momentum and must push the Mayor and City Council to act." He expects $290 million in pension cost savings during five years will keep vital neighborhoo...

UK DB Plans Back in Black?
Via Pension Pulse. The UKPA reports, Defined benefit pensions 'in black': December's Stock Market rally helped the UK's defined benefit pension schemes end the year back in the black, figures have shown. The country's 6,560 defined benefit schemes, including final Salary pensions, collectively had a £21.7 billion surplus at the end of December, according to pensions safety net the Pension Protection Fund. The funding position was a considerable improvement on the £1 billion Deficit...

Another reason to torpedo teacher pensions
At one point when I was chancellor, based on discussions with many new and prospective teachers, I proposed that we offer each new hire a choice between the current Salary and benefit package and an alternative based on a higher entry Salary and lower Pension benefits. No one would lose anything: new hires that wanted the lifetime Pension benefit could still have it, while those who preferred the proposed alternative obviously would be better off. Neve...