First Take: Welfare card use limited. Let the voting begin! Attorney general candidates to face off.

State officials moved Monday to block access to welfare cards from cruise ships and casinos after a Times story about apparent abuses.

Carly Fiorina, with a little help from her friends, launched a new ad attacking Barbara Boxer.

Voting in the fall election is underway as county election officials began sending out millions of mail-in ballots Monday.

The state's highest court upheld Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to furlough state workers in a ruling that could have implications for this week's expected budget vote.

Lawmakers say they are still on track for a vote on the latest budget in state history on Thursday.

The candidates for California attorney general will meet Tuesday at noon for their first, and perhaps only, debate of the campaign. Stay with PolitiCal for live blogging from the debate, which will be held on the campus of UC Davis.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

California Supreme Court upholds state worker furloughs

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acted legally when he ordered more than 200,000 state employees to take unpaid days off last year.

The ruling was a major legal victory for Schwarzenegger, who had tangled with state employees over the furloughs.

You can download the court's ruling here: PECG vs Schwarzenegger - 100410 

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

 

First Take: Schwarzenegger goes to China. Furloughs go to court.

Ten weeks into the new fiscal year, California is still without a budget. But Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heads to China to begin a weeklong trade mission. He will also visit South Korea and Japan.

The state Supreme Court seems likely to uphold the ability of the governor to order state worker furloughs after oral arguments in a furlough case were heard Wednesday.

Jerry Brown agreed to a third debate with Meg Whitman in Fresno and called for a fourth somewhere in Los Angeles.

An aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer was charged with marijuana possession at the U.S. Capitol.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

Get the latest from California politics. Follow PolitiCal on Twitter.

California Supreme Court hears furlough case

Dozens of cases about the legality of state worker furloughs have been filed since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implemented the mandatory days off for public employees last year.

At long last, one of those cases has found its way to the state Supreme Court. At issue is whether  Schwarzenegger overstepped his powers when he ordered unpaid days off for more than 200,000 state workers.

You can listen to the oral arguments here.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

First Take: CalPERS gifts questioned. Boxer attacks Fiorina oil stance. A refund for Bell homeowners?

Evan Halper reports CalPERS staff took private jet trips around the world from financial firms with whom they were doing business.

Furloughs will resume for most state workers Friday after a state Supreme Court ruling.

A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger compared legislative Democrats to the Bell City Council.

Speaking Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer attacked Carly Fiorina's stance on offshore oil drilling.

Schwarzenegger sent National Guard troops to the Mexican border Wednesday, the first of the 1,200 border troops funded and authorized by the Obama administration earlier this year.

Lawmakers introduced a measure Wednesday to offer refunds to Bell residents for overpaid property taxes.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

State Supreme Court: Furloughs back on starting Friday

California state employees face furloughs again, beginning this Friday, after a state Supreme Court ruling Wednesday.

The court overturned a lower court ruling that temporarily stopped the mandatory unpaid days for state workers.

The high court said all furlough litigation -- including the restraining order -- was to be put on hold until it rules on the larger issue of whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has the power to order the unpaid days off.

A hearing in that case is scheduled for next month.

"It does appear that state workers will be furloughed until a budget passes or the state Supreme Court issues a definitive ruling," said Gerald James, legal counsel for Professional Engineers in California Government, one of the unions that had sued to block the furloughs.

The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento
twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher

Furloughs off as appeals court hands Schwarzenegger legal defeat

State worker furloughs are officially off. For now.

A state appeals court Thursday upheld a lower court decision blocking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s order imposing the mandatory days offs for roughly 150,000 state employees.

In a brief notice posted its website, the 1st District Court of Appeal denied the governor’s effort to overturn a decision earlier this week blocking the furloughs. The Schwarzenegger administration, in a memo to department heads on Thursday, said it would appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court.

Labor unions, which filed the lawsuit seeking to stop the latest round of furloughs, cheered the ruling.

“Members won’t be cheated out of part of their paychecks, but there are still some legal battles to go,” said Bruce Blanning, executive director of Professional Engineers in California Government, which represents about 11,000 state employees.

Schwarzenegger ordered the three monthly furlough days in late July, four weeks after the fiscal year began with no state budget in place. The governor said it was necessary to conserve cash.

The furloughs are the equivalent of a 14% pay cut for workers. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick issued a restraining order against the furloughs earlier this week, ruling that "the balance of hardships tips in favor" of the workers, who face "great or irreparable harm."

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

Friday won’t be a furlough day, governor’s office concedes

State workers will have a regularly scheduled workday on Friday, the Schwarzenegger administration said in a memo on Thursday, after a judge earlier this week temporarily blocked the governor’s effort to impose unpaid furloughs.

Schwarzenegger had been seeking to get an appeals court to overturn the Alameda County Superior Court judge’s decision in time to furlough workers this Friday. The appeals court could rule Thursday afternoon.

But the memo from Schwarzenegger’s Department of Personnel Administration director Debbie Endsley said the “timing of any decision by the Court of Appeal effectively prevents” the state from obtaining a final decision from the state Supreme Court before Friday.

“We hope to have a decision … before the second scheduled furlough Friday,” Endsley wrote. That is currently scheduled for Aug. 20.

State employees have been whipsawed in recent weeks, from Schwarzenegger’s late July order to furlough them three times a month until a budget is in place to this week’s order by Judge Steven A. Brick blocking the furloughs.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher

Schwarzenegger files furlough appeal

The Schwarzenegger administration Tuesday formally appealed a decision that would block new furloughs for state employees. Lawyers for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filed paperwork with the 1st District Court of Appeals Tuesday morning.

Schwarzenegger signed an executive order last month reinstating three furlough days per month for state workers beginning on Aug. 13. The furloughs would be in effect until a state budget is passed.

Labor unions have fought the furlough plan arguing they placed an undue burden on state employees. Judge Steven A. Brick sided with those unions Monday, ruling that "the balance of hardships tips in favor" of the workers, who face "great or irreparable harm."

-- Anthony York in Sacramento

First Take: Water bond delayed. Judge says no to furloughs.

A judge has blocked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to implement furloughs for state workers until the budget is passed.

Lawmakers voted Monday night to move the water bond off the 2010 ballot.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) is accused of three ethics violations for allegedly helping a bank with ties to her husband.

A group of progressive economists say Meg Whitman's economic policy proposals would make the state's economic troubles worse.

Whitman on Monday accused Jerry Brown of Bell-style mismanagement while he was mayor of Oakland.

Get the latest headlines from California politics. Follow PolitiCal on Twitter.

-- Anthony York in Sacramento