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Jerry Brown, California's newly elected governor, issued a "massive cell phone cutback for state employees" in which 48,000 government paid cell phones are to be collected and turned in.
"It is difficult for me to believe that 40 percent of all state employees must be equipped with taxpayer-funded cell phones," the Governor said. "Some state employees, including department and agency executives who are required to be in touch 24 hours a day and seven days a week, may need cell phones, but the current number of phones out there is astounding."
Brown's goal is to cut the number of cell phones in half by June 1, though he wants to be careful and avoid early termination penalties that might offset the monthly savings.
"Because of contract obligations, it is possible that we may not be able to eliminate all 48,000 cell phones by June 1, but it is also conceivable that we can do it earlier -- and this is my hope," Brown said.
Brown estimates that the cell phone cutback will save at least $20 million a year.
Comments are closed on this article
Baer
January 12, 2011 at 1:54pm
I live in CA and I remember the previous regime of Brown. It was a disaster for our state. It was the start of all that now needs to be fixed. Perhaps, just perhaps he will get rid of all these entitlements for government workers. If you think about it a Republican govenor would not be able to do much as the Dems have, and have had for years all the power here. Let's see if Brown continues to make the hard choices, dump some of these outrageous pensions, cut back the entitlements. If he does that I would be one who would go along with keeping the higher taxes for a few more years but if he backes down as the govenator did when he ran up against the public sector unions then we should just let it all crash and start over.
If he succeeds by making the hard cuts I will admit that I was wrong about him. Perhaps he has learned something in the ensuing years. Just DO NOT TOUCH PROP 13.
We will see.
jgrimoldy
January 12, 2011 at 2:47pm
I live in CA too, and also remember that it's Brown that got us into a lot of this mess. Well, he paved the way at least. I must admit that, even considering this, I still feel better about him at the helm than nutMeg Ryan.
One thing about Prop 13: Isn't it true that Disneyland, for instance, is still paying the same pennies per square foot in property tax that they were paying back in '78? I certainly appreciate the benefit of Prop 13 for individuals, but something is wrong with this equation...
I will hope for the best for all of us here. I have hope for Brown...
ShyLinuxGuy
January 12, 2011 at 12:04pm
Bravo, Governor Brown!
Continue the cost-cutting methods like this one; California's fiscal house really needs to be cleaned. And I'm not even a California resident.
*cough* Gregoire (WA governor), a lesson or two from this guy? /*cough*
Jeffredo
January 12, 2011 at 10:31am
I hope he's an absolutely cheap bastard and makes everyone mad.
