SavvySugar

Speakers Who Inspire: Maria Shriver, Jennifer Lopez, and More

SavvySugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:00:42 -0700

What started out as a small government initiative for working women is now an event attended by thousands and draws only the most inspirational voices to speak. The 2008 Women's Conference was held in Long Beach, CA yesterday, hosted by Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The all-day conference drew a crowd of 14,000 international women from various professional walks of life and 60 speakers aiming to "empower and inspire women to become architects of change." The agenda covered all the bases with discussions about how to live an authentic life, how to step forward with confidence, starting your own business, managing your financial life, and many, many, more. Check out who was on stage - hit start slideshow to begin.

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Schwarzenegger Terminates Full Salaries of State Employees

SavvySugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:02:27 -0700

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man of his word this week. His threat to significantly cut the salaries of 200,000 state employees if lawmakers failed to produce a budget turned into reality when he signed an executive order reducing their pay to $6.55 an hour. The Governor's order also eliminates more than 20,000 state jobs, saying the state can't pay its bills without a budget.

Today, I am exercising my executive authority to avoid a full-blown crisis and keep our state moving forward. This is not an action I take lightly, but we do not have a budget, and as governor, I have a responsibility to make sure our state has enough money to pay its bills.

Needless to say, state employees facing enormous pay cuts are not happy about the situation. Karen Bass, the speaker of the State Assembly, shows her solidarity with the workforce: "It is an unwise and unfortunate move to cause economic strife to public servants and their families who are working hard and playing by the rules."

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Schwarzenegger's Wage Threat: A State Employee's Reaction

SavvySugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:51 -0700

As California Democrats and Republicans struggle to find a satisfactory compromise and seal the deal on a new and overdue state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's frustration has risen to the point of making threats. He's considering an executive order that would reduce 200,000 state employees' salaries to the $6.55 per hour federal minimum wage, which CitizenSugar points out is $1.45 less than the state's minimum wage.

A good friend of mine happens to be a hard-working California state employee, so I asked him for his thoughts on the governor's threat and how it would affect him should the order go through this week.

SavvySugar: How would something like this affect the public sector?

State Employee: I think it is a fair assumption that state employees do not jump into the public sector expecting some great financial windfall as a result. No, most people are doing it for a sense of security. Every month you are going to get your paycheck and you are going to get it on the first or the 30th and that's it. Likewise, you are going to have not just financial security, but job security. In general terms a concept such as the one which Arnold is proposing would overthrow one big benefit of being a public sector employee.

See his thoughts on the concept of Arnold's threat and how he'd personally be affected when you read more.

SS: What's your opinion on the concept in general?

SE: The fact of the matter is these are hard financial times for many people and by cutting people's salaries, in some cases up to 90 percent, you are putting their livelihood in dire straits and for what purpose? Stymieing the ability for 200,000 state employees to subsist on their own financially seems like a very backward way to help quell the budget crisis.

SS: How would you be affected? Does the fact that your salary would be paid retroactively make it no big deal?

SE: For me personally, I have enough savings that I could stand a few months without making my regular hourly pay, but it would be tight. I actually figured out what my pretax paycheck would be under the governor's proposal of lowering the salary to $6.55 an hour, and it comes out to $1135 a month. My paycheck after taxes would pay rent and that's it. No food, no water bill, no electric bill, nothing, just rent.

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Some Employers Saying Stay Home With No Pay

SavvySugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:30:11 -0800

Employers are starting to resort to measures other than layoffs to make it through these trying economic times. They can't get rid of all staff if they want to stay in business, but they also can't afford to fulfill their payroll obligations. Working without pay isn't an option so some companies are asking employees to stay home without pay as a cost-saving measure.

The Seattle Times is one of many newspapers struggling to stay afloat, and on Friday it asked 500 managers and nonunion workers to take a week off without pay before the end of February. The news comes after the paper already laid of 500 workers in 2008, and precedes more layoffs to come in 2009.

The very same day, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for new payroll policies in the face of increasingly unmanageable budget problems in the state of California. He announced a hiring freeze, payroll cuts, and ordered the 235,000 state employees to take two days off every month without pay as of Feb. 1.

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Would Tax Hikes Cause You to Change Your Spending Habits?

SavvySugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:03:54 -0700

The minimum sales tax in California is 7.25 percent, but it varies by county - here in San Francisco it's 8.5 percent while Los Angeles has a sales tax of 8.25 percent. Last week Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that his administration is considering "tax hikes on personal services, some prepared foods and other items" in an effort to close the budget gap.

The personal services include things like personal training and attorney's fees, and the prepared foods could include items that economists deem unnecessary like mochaccinos and artisan goat cheese pizzas. Currently, CA taxes food consumed at a restaurant and not food taken out with the intention of being eaten at home. The "other items" could include already pricey movie tickets.

Would tax hikes on these items make you think twice before using these services or buying food and beverages to-go? Even if you're not a CA resident, share your two cents!

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