It's hard not to see the results of tonight's new statewide poll as even more fuel to the fire of reworking the way California government -- and frankly, California politics -- will operate in the future.
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That was the sentiment this morning from the President pro Tempore of the California Senate, universally known as a nice guy but perhaps ready to make sure that no one equates nice guy with pushover.

Implicit in that comment from Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is that Governor Schwarzenegger's public prodding on a number of pending issues won't help; one wonders, too, how it will affect the work in private, beginning with this afternoon's 'Big 5' leadership meeting.
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A bipartisan group of seasoned ex-politicians and policy wonks has settled on a package of government reform proposals while sending a pretty simple message to those inside the state Capitol: work with us or stand aside.

The leaders of the group California Forward sent a letter today to Governor Schwarzenegger and the leaders of the Legislature outlining a detailed set of proposals crafted after the group's long listening tour around the state.
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She said it with what sounded like a sigh of resignation: Laura Chick is finally getting a BlackBerry.

Maybe that's one way of explaining how much things are changing for the former Los Angeles city controller, who's ending her first week in Sacramento as the state's new 'inspector general for federal stimulus funds'. Or something like that.

Maybe job #1 should be fixing that clunky title.
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[UPDATE 2:33pm - Apparently the governor was watching what happened, as described below. He's just announced three new members of the commission, thus filling all the vacancies. Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear says the governor supports the 10% lawmaker pay cut that failed to be enacted this morning, and says the guv was surprised that one of the standing commissioners voted against it. What do you think the odds are that these three new folks support the pay cut? --JM]

The intersection of populist anger, ballot measure directives, and unexpected legal intricacies could be found this morning at the scheduled meeting of the obscure commission that sets the salaries of elected officials.

When it was all over, those salaries remained just as they are... even as the state's finances keep crumbling down around them.
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It's not a big story, but an interesting one: the annual report from state auditors of government workers who have done wrong.

And this year doesn't disappoint: improper travel expenses, inappropriate email, unnecessary consultants, and more.
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Making good on a recent promise to shine more sunlight into the financial world of his top advisers, Governor Schwarzenegger today launched a new website that allows you to peruse both the major and mundane in expenses and investments of staffers in both his executive office and various state agencies.

The "Reporting Transparency in Government" website is an interesting chapter on a topic Schwarzenegger embraced in his original 2003 campaign but in truth has only followed through on in sporadic bursts ever since.
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A popular topic for those inside the state Capitol rooting around for spare change to help close the annual budget gap has been to get rid of surplus state property.

And yet, a state audit released today shows that it's not quite that simple, years after everyone said it should be.
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If there's any issue facing state government that's not quite reared its ugly head... but will... it's the price tag for retirement benefits of state employees. And today, a new estimate of those costs may only reinforce the notion that the issue is a ticking fiscal time bomb.

Controller John Chiang has released a new report, conducted by outside researchers, that pegs California will have to shell out some $48.2 billion to cover its current state worker retiree obligations on medical and dental care.
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You can say one thing about those pesky state auditors: they sure are picky about how taxpayer dollars are spent.

The annual report on "Improper Activities by State Employees" is out from the Bureau of State Audits, chock full of little anecdotes about no-nos the auditors discovered.

The report obviously isn't an indictment of the vast majority of state workers (no emails, please) or of most government agencies. Nonetheless, it always provides some insight into how a handful of folks think they've gotten away with something... for a little while, at least.

Without any further ado...

Two Jobs Are Better Than One: The audit found a full-time employee at the California Department of Housing and Community Development was holding down a job on the outside at the same time she drew a state paycheck. And if that wasn't enough, the outside job was with a non-profit organization that was receiving grants from the department. Total cost to the state: $34,687. Ummm, didn't anyone notice? Apparently not. From the auditors' report: "The employee's managers at HCD did not sufficiently supervise her attendance and failed to respond appropriately to numerous indications that the employee was working simultaneously at the nonprofit."

There's No Business Like... No Business: Over at the state Environmental Protection Agency, auditors found an employee who was apparently taking time off but being paid as though she was on the job. The employee (all persons are unnamed in the audit, by the way) was away from work a total of 768 hours over a 22 month period. That's 19.2 weeks of vacation... assuming a standard workweek... in less than two years. Cost to the state: $23,320. Again, the audit raps the knuckles of supervisors who failed to stay on top of the situation.

On the Job Drinking: At the California Employment Development Department, auditors discovered an employee who was drinking alcoholic beverages while working, which (shockingly) "impeded his ability to perform his duties safely." But it gets better. "Moreover," says the report, "his supervisors had been aware of the situation for years." In the time since the auditors filed their report, supervisors at the agency decided to suspend the worker, without pay, for two days.

The list goes on with other small, but interesting, snippets of folks not necessarily walking the straight and narrow. The incidents came to light through California's Whistleblower Protection Act, and the report was officially submitted to the governor and Legislature today by State Auditor Elaine Howle.

The entire report, in all its glory, can be found here.