California State Workers Resist July 1 Office Return Amid Budget Cuts

On Thursday, hundreds of California state employees protested at the State Capitol
and strongly opposed Governor Gavin Newsom’s July 1 return to office directive
and subsequent budget cuts. The new policy will make the majority of state
employees work in person for at least four days every week, which worries about
rising costs for commuting and stalled wage increases.

Numerous protesters identified returning to the office would substantially stretch
their finances. “It really feels like state workers are being punished,” said Haley
Leguizamo from the Department of Education. In addition to the inconvenience of
returning, it is particularly frustrating given that Newsom’s budget includes a cut of
nearly $767 million in state worker compensation to close an anticipated $12
billion deficit. That also eliminates a scheduled 3% raise for the next two years.

Assembly member Josh Hoover has requested an audit to evaluate the costs
associated with the in-person work policy. He noted that the policy will impact all
Californians through increased traffic and continued costs on purchase and
operation of state buildings that are used rarely. “The office is about $600 million a
year in cost and could actually be better utilized as housing,” Hoover stated.

Restaurants like La Bou downtown were hopeful the mandate would increase foot
traffic to their business, but others fear that employees may not have enough
disposable income to shop locally. Others noted rising parking fees, ranging
upwards of $200, as another financial burden for returning employees.

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The governor’s office declined to respond after several attempts for comment. The
Department of Finance said that the state is not contemplating furloughs or cutting
healthcare, but needs to pause salary increases to deal with the deficit.
State workers say that they have shown that remote work is effective. “We can
perform our jobs from home,” said Vincent Green, an IT specialist. “This feels
political.”