Legislation aimed at protecting California's 300,000 state workers from taking a pay hit if lawmakers can't approve a budget on time is speeding toward the state Assembly floor.
The measure follows a unanimous California Supreme Court ruling earlier this month that most state workers were entitled to no more than minimum wage if lawmakers fail either to pass a budget before June 30 or adopt emergency salary legislation.
State officials including Gov. Gray Davis said the ruling provided new incentive for the Legislature to approve a budget on time -- something that the state has not done 15 of the last 25 years.
A measure sponsored by Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez, D-Bellflower, would require full pay for state workers in the event of a delayed budget. It passed the Assembly retirement and pension committee Wednesday.
Bermudez said he doesn't want to take pressure off the Legislature, but instead seeks to protect workers.
"State employees come to work every day, and they should get paid," he said. "If they don't ... they will struggle to pay their bills, place food on their tables."
Although Bermudez said he believes the bill will quickly gain approval from the Legislature, it's unclear whether the measure will accomplish his goals.
The bill was written and introduced in February and may not respond to all issues raised by the state justices in their May 1 ruling. State attorneys have not completed their review, but Bermudez said the bill could still be amended if need be.
At issue is an argument brought to the court five years ago by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. The group contended that the state constitution prohibits spending in a new fiscal year without authorization from the Legislature and the governor.
The court's ruling did not fully back the tax group. Instead, the justices said that if a budget has not been approved, workers must be paid at the federally guaranteed minimum wage -- $5.15 an hour.
They also ruled, however, that workers who earn overtime must get their full regular pay plus the overtime amount, as mandated by federal law.
State Controller Steve Westly has said he intends to pay workers their regular salaries anyway because reprogramming the state's computers would be a near-impossible task. Westly claims the court ruling will allow such an exception.
Attorneys for the association contend that Westly must follow the minimum wage demand and have vowed to force the issue in court.
Bermudez said his bill would clear up much of the uncertainty.
Some critics, however, said the bill is misdirected.
"I'm very sympathetic to the state workers," said Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange. "But we're spending more time trying to figure out how to pay people when we don't have a budget than trying to pass a budget."