Judge faults California controller for docking legislators' pay
SACRAMENTO — State Controller John Chiang did not have the authority to dock legislators' pay last summer after concluding that the budget they passed was not balanced, according to a tentative court ruling Tuesday.
The Legislature meets its obligation to pass a budget when it sends the governor a bill that, "on its face," proposes spending that does not exceed revenue, wrote Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David I. Brown. He will consider finalizing the ruling at a hearing Wednesday.
State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) sued Chiang in January. They asserted that he improperly interpreted the voter-approved law requiring that lawmakers' paychecks be withheld if they fail to pass the annual budget by June 15...
