SACRAMENTO — State workers chanted Thursday outside the Capitol to assail Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans to pay 200,000 state employees the federal minimum wage until a budget is signed, providing some of the most compelling budget-related scenes of angry Californians this year.
It may have been what the governor wanted all along, even if they shouted his name in disgust.
The governor's draft executive order to withhold a portion of state workers' pay, obtained Wednesday by The Bee, has generated public attention for the state's budget situation in a way that months of Schwarzenegger town halls never could.
Whether Schwarzenegger's attempt to up the ante will prove effective is another question. The logic he's employing goes something like this: If more people feel pain from a prolonged budget delay, lawmakers will be pressured – or shamed – into compromise.
Read the full story at sacbee.com.