The Politics of Programming

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has proposed closing the state's $15.2 billion budget deficit by cutting the pay of about 200,000 state employees. But as do most changes in policies, this one has an information technology angle that muddies the water.

As reported in The San Jose Mercury News, California's controller, John Chiang, a Democrat, has said he will ignore Schwarzenegger's order and pay employees. The controller is not permitted to pay state employees without a budget, but the state's Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that those employees paid by the hour and entitled to federal minimum wage, as well as those who work overtime, can be paid without a budget. To do that, California's payroll system would have to be reprogrammed to identify those employees who can be paid -- a job that could take weeks or months, Chiang said.

Whether that is indeed the case is up for debate. The last time such a reprogramming was considered (in 2003), then controller Democrat Steve Westly said the technical changes could be managed. On Monday, Westley told the Mercury News that it would take much longer. Who knows?