(full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)
Controller John Chiang is standing up to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- refusing to comply with the devastating Executive Order the Governor signed last Thursday -- despite 28,016 petitions Courage Campaign, CREDO Mobile and True Majority members sent to his office.
The Executive Order fired over 22,000 seasonal, temporary and student workers and directed Chiang to reduce over 200,000 state workers' pay to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour.
But, Controller Chiang is holding his ground, daring the Governor to take him to court.
This is part of Controller Chiang's official response to Governor Schwarzenegger:
To the extent that the Order attempts to govern the constitutional duties for which I was independently elected to perform and, because it is based on faulty legal and factual premises, I will not comply with the Order.
Today Chiang announced that there is no way the state's computer systems are capable of actually processing the cuts for at least another six months of reprogramming.
John Chiang is, simply put, a hero. To thank him for his courage, the Courage Campaign is teaming up with CREDO Mobile to host a special conference call with Controller Chiang and our good friend Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Los Angeles), the lead author of a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger condemning the wage cuts signed by 27 California members of Congress. Also joining us will be Yvonne Walker, President of SEIU Local 1000, whose members account for 95,000 of those cut to minimum wage.
Please join us on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT for this Courage Campaign Conversation with Controller Chiang, Rep. Solis and Yvonne Walker, co-sponsored by CREDO Mobile. Click here to RSVP for the call.
