The Fight in California

Like a good fight? How about Arnold Schwarzenegger against John Chiang?

(John Chiang)  has vowed to defy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s executive order directing the state to pay workers the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour until a budget agreement is reached. He has previously asserted that the Republican governor’s order is based on an untested 2003 state Supreme Court legal opinion and that he will continue issuing full paychecks to state employees.

Here’s the story from Crooks and Liars

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.

Can the Governor of a State mandate the wages of  state employees by fiat? Good question.

Can the  Controller of California prevent the usurpation of his own elected authority? Good question.