Imperial Valley News

Sacramento, California - Alameda County Superior Judge Frank Roesch yesterday ordered the Schwarzenegger administration to end furloughs for all state workers who are paid from non-general fund accounts.

An appeal, however, is expected either later today or on Monday and will likely stay the court's order pending the final outcome of the litigation. Service Employees International Union, one of the unions that filed the suit leading to the ruling, says it will ask Judge Roesch to lift any stay and stop the furloughs, citing "hardship" to state workers. But the issue is not likely to be resolved until the California Supreme Court has a say in the matter.

In his order, Roesch also appeared ready to end the furlough program in its entirety, but stopped short because that would go beyond the scope of the lawsuits filed by the unions. The underlying lawsuits were filed by SEIU, the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE), and the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD).

"While the logic that the furloughs are illegal because the Governor did not comply with the mandatory requirements relating to the formation of the Executive Orders also leads to the conclusion that the Governor's furlough orders are likewise unlawful as applied to agencies funded by General Fund funds, this Court cannot and will not extend the Court's Order to those State Agencies and their employees," Roesch wrote in his final order. The order follows his late December ruling that extending the furloughs to non-General Fund agencies was irrational because it resulted in no savings -- the stated intent of the furlough policy.

In addition to ordering an immediate end for the furloughs for special fund agencies, Roesch also ordered that affected workers be returned to their full salaries and that they receive back pay for any wages lost to the furloughs.

Cal/OSHA is no longer funded through the state General Fund. In 2009 the California Legislature approved a new assessment to employers' workers' comp premiums -- the Occupational Safety and Health Fund -- at the rate of $7.70 per $1,000 of premium, providing some $52 million in funding for the agency. Fed-OSHA also provides about 25% of Cal/OSHA's total funding.