Holidays are ripe for cutting

FROM SACRAMENTO —  For most working Californians, I suspect, the holiday season is only a distant memory. They’re back deep into the grind. And it will be months before there’s another company-paid official holiday, Memorial Day.

For state employees, however, the holiday season never seems to end. Their first relief from the back-to-work grind will come Monday, Martin Luther King Day.

In February, they’ll get two holidays four days apart: Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday. Then they’ll be off on Cesar Chavez Day on March 31.

Almost all wage earners -- private and public -- get paid holidays on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. But in the fall, state workers also sneak in Columbus Day and Veterans Day. The day after Thanksgiving counts as a state holiday as well.

Add in one “personal holiday” and the annual total for state employees is 14.

Jealous? Sure. But more aggravating is the fact that most of state government shuts down on seven declared holidays that the private sector works. And it particularly grates when the state is looking into a $42-billion deficit hole over the next 18 months.

It’s just one of the small but very visible negative images that causes many taxpayers to believe they’re not getting their money’s worth from state government. They see these holidays as government excess on display while more businesses fold and private unemployment rises.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to understand that. Republican legislators certainly do. Democrats probably do, too, but they’re pressured by their political patrons, the public employee unions.

Before Sacramento dares ask people to pay higher taxes and tolerate severe program cuts, Schwarzenegger told reporters last week, “we’ve got to show them that we as a government will . . . make a commitment to run government more efficiently and start streamlining so they get more bang for their buck.”

The number of state holidays has been one of the sticking points in marathon budget negotiations this week between the governor and legislative leaders.

Schwarzenegger has proposed lopping off two paid holidays, Lincoln and Columbus days, reducing the total to 12. That’s closer to what other states offer but still more generous than the federal government, which grants workers 10. The private sector averages eight. (The Times gives 10: the six major holidays, plus four personal days.)

Schwarzenegger figures he’d save the state $116 million over the 18 months. That’s money the state wouldn’t have to spend on premium holiday pay to keep vital facilities, such as prisons, open.

It’s only a small pebble in the deficit hole, but state number crunchers are desperate for any savings. More important, it’s a signal of that “commitment to efficiency” Schwarzenegger talked about.

You’d think Democrats would consider this a no-brainer, a way to avoid even more cuts in education and poor people’s healthcare -- and, strategically, vital to persuading the public to accept tax hikes. But they’ve been siding with the labor unions who insist that employee perks such as holidays and overtime are issues best settled by collective bargaining.

Schwarzenegger says “it’s ludicrous” to suggest he should negotiate with unions over one other thing he is proposing: overtime reform. “Why would I negotiate with unions to get abuse out of the system?” Democrats should be legislating it, he asserted.

Under current law, if a state employee takes a sick day, that day counts as a full work shift for overtime purposes. If he were to be called in to work that night, he’d be paid overtime. Also, he could work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, take off “sick” Thursday, work Friday and get overtime on Saturday.

Last July, New Folsom prison near Sacramento racked up 5,500 hours of overtime. And of that, 4,000 hours were claimed by employees who had used sick leave that pay period, according to the state Department of Personnel Administration. Some may have actually been sick that summer month. Maybe bad sunburns. But you’ve got to be skeptical.

Some employees -- highway patrolmen, prison guards, nurses -- have been known to haul in more overtime than their base pay.

The governor has proposed counting only actual days worked in calculating overtime. That would save a relative pittance -- $30 million -- but, again, it’s about principle and fairness to taxpayers. This should be an easy concession for Democrats.

By far the biggest cost-cutter in the package that Schwarzenegger is swinging at state workers is his effort -- being challenged in court -- to require 238,000 to take off two unpaid Fridays each month starting Feb. 6. These forced furloughs would cost employees a 10% pay cut and save the state about $1.3 billion through July 1, 2010.

That idea should be junked.

For starters, Schwarzenegger keeps talking about “economic stimulus,” but it’s anti-stimulus to be removing $1.3 billion from the purchasing potential of any Californians. State workers, after all, shop at local groceries, buy tickets at local movie theaters and purchase cars from local dealers.

Secondly, it means closing down state government on two weekdays each month, during a deep recession, when people need government most.

“It’s penny-wise and pound- foolish,” says Yvonne Walker, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, which represents 95,000 state workers. “The governor doesn’t factor in the cost to the local economy.”

The union has offered its own cost-cutting proposals that, Walker says, would save the state $380 million.

What the governor really should do is double up on the holiday cuts and chop four. Get down to 10 -- the six majors, plus four floating. Then he’d need to pay a premium only for the six holidays. Save around $400 million. Keep government offices open more.

Make it all temporary -- like the tax increases.

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george.skelton@latimes.com