Jon Ortiz

CalPERS approves lower pension rates for state, schools

blogs.sacbee.com — CalPERS' board has signed off on a plan to lower pension payments for California's state government and school districts by a combined $102.8 million for the coming fiscal year. What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories.

Data supports raising CA state officials pay, panel chairman says

blogs.sacbee.com — The chairman of California's Citizens Compensation Commission has concluded personally that data supports full restoration of cuts made to state elected officials' salaries the past four years - but he hasn't decided whether to vote that way Wednesday.

CalPERS committee unveils health premium rates for 2014

blogs.sacbee.com — A CalPERS committee today recommended 2014 health insurance rates that collectively increase premiums by 3.03 percent, the lowest benefit increase since 1998. The Pension and Health Benefits Committee's recommendations include an average increase of nearly 6 percent for some plans while lowering prices for some Medicare coverages by almost 9 percent.

California bill adds fine for child porn on public computers

blogs.sacbee.com — State workers convicted of possessing or transmitting child pornography would have to pay an extra $2,000 fine if they used work computers to commit the crime, under terms of a bill breezing through the Legislature. Assemblywoman Marie Waldron's measure is aimed at curbing criminal use of public computers in libraries and at colleges, but the measure would also apply to public employees' workstations.

California finance director will decide when state raises kick in

blogs.sacbee.com — State workers, welcome to the back of the line. The tentative agreement covering 95,000 state employees represented by SEIU Local 1000 includes a 4.5 percent raise spread over two years starting in mid-2014. But the deal includes a contingency that puts employee pay raises below the state's other obligations and leaves it to the finance director, currently Ana Matosantos, to make the decision.

California bill requires reports on moonlighting state workers

blogs.sacbee.com — Among the mountain of budget-related measures lawmakers approved last week, two paragraphs in the voluminous Assembly Bill 76 call for greater scrutiny of "additional appointments" and the policy that fueled them. The measure requires the Department of Human Resources make regular reports to the Legislature on employees who hold two or more jobs in state government.

SEIU deal increases state worker costs by nearly $735 million

blogs.sacbee.com — What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. ( See our full terms of service here.)

Fresno's Measure G defeated: 'It's a victory,' union leader says

fresnobee.com — More than a week after Fresno residents went to the polls to decide Measure G, a new vote count shows the effort to privatize city trash has failed. The updated tally, released Wednesday at 3 p.m., has the privatization measure down by 801 votes, a deficit that can't be overcome by the remaining 600 uncounted ballots.