---

Calif. state workers brace for minimum wage
Some California state workers are preparing to tap into their savings while others already are cutting expenses as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's minimum wage order moved one step closer to reality.

On Friday, the Schwarzenegger administration won an appellate court ruling saying it has the authority to impose the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour on more than 200,000 state workers as California wrestles with its latest budget crisis. It was not immediately clear if the state controller, who cuts state paychecks on a decades-old payroll system, will comply. The office says its computers are unable to make the change until an upgrade is completed in two years.

The effect, however, was chilling for state government workers, many of whom say they have to prepare as if the pay cut will happen....

...A cut to a minimum wage would mean state workers would make the equivalent of $15,000 a year. The average state worker makes $65,000 annually, according to the state Department of Personnel Administration....

...The minimum wage fight stems from a budget impasse two years ago. Schwarzenegger issued the order, but it never took effect because state Controller John Chiang refused to go along with it. That prompted the legal fight that led to Friday's ruling from the California 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

It concluded that Chiang cannot ignore the governor's minimum wage order. In a statement after the appellate court ruling, Chiang said he interpreted the decision to mean that his office would not have to comply with Schwarzenegger's executive order if the office had "system limitations."...