Top California lawmakers urge state unions to make deals with Gov. Newsom on pay cuts

Legislative leaders are urging state unions to reach cost-saving agreements with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration by July 1 as they prepare to vote Monday on budget proposal.

Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, said in a Wednesday statement that their latest proposal counts on savings from collective bargaining but wouldn’t force pay cuts.

“We now explicitly anticipate budget savings achieved through the collective bargaining process in the event anticipated federal funds do not materialize,” Atkins and Rendon said in the statement. “We encourage labor unions to engage and finalize agreements with the Administration prior to July 1. Savings through the collective bargaining process are critical to maintaining the state’s fiscal health, in the event additional federal support does not materialize.”

A spokesman for Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angels, who leads the Senate budget committee, declined to share a specific number Thursday for what the Legislature expects to save through bargaining.

Newsom’s May 14 budget proposal would force pay cuts of about 10 percent in July, saving the state $2.8 billion, if agreements with unions can’t be reached. His proposal also would cancel most of the raises many state workers are set to receive in July, with the exception of workers who make less than $15 per hour.

Legislative leaders last week rejected the mandatory approach, encouraging negotiations without assuming any savings in pay as part of their solution to a projected $54.3 billion deficit.

Legislators are still in negotiations with the Governor’s Office, and likely won’t reach final agreement before a budget deadline Monday, according to the statement.

“We must pass the updated legislative version of the budget while our productive negotiations continue with the governor,” they said in the statement.

Newsom’s office had given unions a June 12 deadline. The update gives them a couple more weeks.

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Top California lawmakers urge state unions to make deals with Gov. Newsom on pay cuts."