Sacramento Bee March 11

The state paid civil service and California State University workers about 4 percent less in 2009 than in 2008, but the cuts were applied unevenly and about one-quarter of state workers' pay actually increased, according to a Bee analysis of new data from the state controller's office.

California State University workers about 4 percent less in 2009 than in 2008, but the cuts were applied unevenly and about one-quarter of state workers' pay actually increased, according to a Bee analysis of new data from the state controller's office.

Largely due to furloughs, pay cuts last year of almost $800 million nearly equaled the $900 million increase in state worker pay from 2007 to 2008. Employees at some departments – Developmental Services, the Department of Rehabilitation, and Health Services, to name a few – were hit with a double-whammy: less staff, less pay.

But there were winners, too. Most California Highway Patrol employees, along with those toiling for several constitutional officers, saw their overall pay increase. Those workers either weren't subject to furloughs, fell outside the governor's control, or both. The remaining employees who earned more last year worked more overtime; were promoted; or cashed out unused vacation and sick pay when they retired.

"Payroll costs under the governor's control have gone down dramatically," said Aaron McLear, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman. "When personnel costs have increased, it has been in areas outside of the administration's control."

It's been more than a year since Schwarzenegger mandated that most state workers take furlough days without pay. Since July, employees have been forced to take off three days a month.

It's a simple concept that, in practice, has proved complicated.

At the Employment Development Department, for example, total pay increased around 4 percent, the second-largest increase among large agencies, behind the California Highway Patrol.

Although EDD employees are technically taking furlough days, their caseload has ballooned due to crushing increases in unemployment. So, in reality, they are working right through furloughs and banking days for later.

Meanwhile, overtime at the EDD has more than doubled, and hundreds of new workers were hired after Congress increased unemployment insurance money for states in July 2008, triggering what EDD spokeswoman Loree Levy called, "the most aggressive hiring effort in the history of the department."

The result of this mishmash: a decrease in total base pay – salary minus overtime and bonuses – at the department due to the furloughs despite the hiring. But total pay at the department, largely due to overtime, increased by around $18 million.

Causes were different at the Highway Patrol, but results were similar. The CHP increased spending on base pay, overtime and total pay during 2009. Its $61 million payroll jump was almost as large an increase as the $74 million rise from 2007 to 2008.

The Highway Patrol has a separate union contract with the state that allowed the vast majority of its employees to avoid furloughs. The department also hired many new officers as part of its first major expansion in decades, which started before the current budget woes.

While most Highway Patrol officers earned more in 2009 than during 2008, that trend could weaken in next year's numbers. In July 2009, the patrol officers union voted to apply the entire modest raise for the current fiscal year to reduce health insurance costs for retirees.

Employees at the Board of Equalization also weren't subject to furloughs because the governor doesn't control the payroll for departments run by constitutional officers. Most employees there earned more during 2009 than during 2008.

The board, which administers the state's sales and use, fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and other taxes, also hired more people to meet legislative mandates to increase revenue.

Those new hires paid off, bringing tens of millions more in tax revenue to the state than was spent on their pay, said board spokeswoman Anita Gore. Since the department spends much of its time collecting funds, she said, the department decided it didn't make sense for employees to take furloughs.

Other constitutional officers – the controller's office and the Department of Insurance, for instance – gave many of their employees raises but cut in other areas. Staff reductions or overtime cuts rendered their total payroll increases negligible.