The high price of California state worker contracts

DESPITE WARNINGS from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office and concerns from some labor-friendly Democrats, the Senate budget committee on has approved two bills to fund new contracts for three-fourths of the state’s rank-and-file workers.  

The misgivings? Extra goodies in the tentative deal for prison guards, the lack of time to review the contracts negotiated by the Newsom administration, flaws in computing salary comparisons and vacancy rates — and, oh, the bottom-line cost of $5 billion over three years.