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Schwarzenegger’s California Dreaming

Governor Schwarzenegger delivered an exuberant “State of the State” address on Wednesday afternoon. He is very excited about his agenda and says if the legislature doesn’t pass it he will put it to the voters in a June special election. Most of the agenda is likely to pass because, quite frankly, Schwarzenegger “agenda” is largely hot air. But there are three points which will be easier said than done.

Base teacher pay on merit, not tenure, and tie teachers' continued employment to their performance in the classroom.

In charter schools this idea generally works…but…pay scales tend to be up to 150% higher. Schwarzenegger’s whole plan is that merit pay will somehow lower education costs. Should the governor be reelected in 2006, his second term is going to see massive retirement by state employees. On the contrary, the state is going to have to pay more money than ever to hire new employees. What’s worse, until those new employees can grab the bull by the horns, the state faces closures and shortages from schools to highways to hospitals to state parks. Traditionally Republican voters are going to get disgusted just as quickly as Democrat ones and there could be conceivably another recall.

Will send the Little Hoover Commission a plan Thursday to reorganize the state prison system. Look, Schwarzenegger is not going to win against the prison guard union.

When you have to incarcerate as many people as California does, the prison guard union is naturally the best ally of any “tough on crime” candidate. He’s going to send a Commission a plan…whoopee…how about REAL MANDATORY SENTENCING REFORM, ARNOLD? Oh wait, some wealthy guy had to use the initiative process against you for that.

Says the state must shift move from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension system for new state employees, similar to that offered by many private companies.

Already the state employee pension invests in stock and bonds. What Schwarzenegger wants to do is take the pension board, which are full of elected members, and abolish them. He would then offer state employees a 401(k) plan. In other words, instead of a state pension board deciding where the state employee fund is invested it would be a bunch of investment bankers on Wall Street. No wonder Schwarzenegger easily borrowed enough money to keep the state solvent in 2003, he just promised this in return. I don’t know if this will cost Schwarzenegger reelection but if any form of Social Security privatization passes nationally…this idea is politically toxic. Phil Angelides might as well draft his inaugural address.

posted by Thomas at 8:49 PM 0 comments