{"id":285,"date":"2026-06-04T05:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=285"},"modified":"2026-06-04T05:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T05:09:36","slug":"state-workers-just-want-to-stay-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"State Workers Just Want to Stay Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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S<\/span>ACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 There\u2019s no better example summarizing California\u2019s enduring problems than the recent\u00a0Sacramento Bee<\/em>\u00a0story\u00a0explaining\u00a0that a union representing some public employees has \u201csent \u2018exhaustion\u2019 letters to over 100 state departments, arguing that the return-to-office order will require more than 90,000 state workers to commute four days a week, which will negatively impact California\u2019s environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more The Continued Case for Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

The union claims that Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s effort to force state workers to finally return to their cubicles after years of COVID-related stay-at-home laxity runs afoul of the\u00a0California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA (pronounced See-kwa) is the \u201clandmark\u201d 1970 environmental law that requires every construction project that needs a discretionary governmental approval to navigate a maze of environmental impact reports, oversight, and even lawsuits.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a pitch-perfect summary of why California \u2014 a state that once led the nation in its infrastructure advancements \u2014 cannot build anything efficiently. This self-serving argument spotlights the way that public employee unions and environmental interest groups paralyze the state. Newsom ended California\u2019s COVID State of Emergency in February 2023. Yet more than three years later, he has been unable to force his own employees to head back to the office.<\/p>\n

When it comes to public employee unions, it\u2019s like the tail wagging the dog. The governor set a July 1 return-to-office date, but the SEIU Local 1000 filed\u00a0an unfair labor practice complaint. The union has argued that Newsom hasn\u2019t bargained in good faith, but here\u2019s a key demand from that union: \u201cThe state shall have the burden to demonstrate, by clear and compelling evidence, why the employee is unable to perform the essential duties and functions of their job 100% remotely.\u201d<\/p>\n

That union\u2019s officials also are demanding a variety of benefits and stipends in exchange for any return to the office. You\u2019ve got to\u00a0read\u00a0some of this yourself to believe it. This is basically a shakedown from workers who already receive salaries and\u00a0pension benefits\u00a0that would boggle any non-Californian\u2019s mind. These demands aren\u2019t remotely reasonable.<\/p>\n

Per the\u00a0 from the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) union, the governor\u2019s order \u201cis a discretionary decision that will have myriad environmental impacts that must be analyzed, disclosed and mitigated.\u201d The letter argues that additional state worker commutes will increase air pollution, but it\u2019s pretty clear the environmental impacts are not driving this action.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about the convenience of state workers: \u201cFor CASE members across California and other state employees, telework has proven to be an essential tool that allows state agencies and departments to recruit and retain highly qualified legal professionals while maintaining the efficient delivery of public services,\u201d the letter\u00a0.<\/p>\n

The silver lining is this effort spotlights how easy it is for special interests, especially unions, to game the CEQA system to achieve results totally unrelated to improving the environment. Unions often file lawsuits against proposed construction projects as a way to muscle developers into granting labor concessions or union-only\u00a0Project Labor Agreements. CEQA lawsuits \u2014 or merely the threat of filing one \u2014 add unnecessary costs and delays and even halt projects.<\/p>\n

Read more Tom Steyer Appears to Have Proven Conclusively That He\u2019s a Loser<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn an example from the East Bay, where I represent housing developers, leveraging the threat of CEQA litigation has been the longstanding strategy of an association of four building trade unions \u2014 that demand high-priced no-bid contracts from developers in exchange for an agreement to stand down on meritless CEQA claims,\u201d\u00a0argued\u00a0attorney Robert Selna in a 2022\u00a0San Francisco Chronicle<\/em>\u00a0column.\u00a0Research\u00a0confirms most CEQA litigation comes from groups with no history of environmental activism.<\/p>\n

This latest action is an expansion of the usual nonsense, but it\u2019s not out of character. The best hope is that even the state\u2019s Democrats recognize that CEQA is badly in need of far-reaching reform \u2014 and not just the piecemeal tweaks they\u2019ve thus far approved. Almost everyone in the Capitol knows the law has become an enormous hurdle to development, especially desperately needed\u00a0housing projects. Nearly half of the CEQA lawsuits target environmentally friendly projects such as parks, transit, bike lanes, and infill developments designed to battle sprawl.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve\u00a0explained for The<\/em> American Spectator<\/em>, California lawmakers have over the past few years passed \u2014 and Newsom has signed \u2014 reasonable laws that streamline CEQA approvals and create categories of projects that are approved \u201cby right\u201d and therefore are exempt from CEQA\u2019s \u201cAlice in Wonderland\u201d process. But these apply only to specific types of projects in specific areas, and they often include new union-friendly requirements. Perhaps it\u2019s time for state officials to acknowledge that constantly giving in to unions only emboldens them.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the California Chamber of Commerce has submitted signatures for a statewide\u00a0ballot initiative\u00a0for the general election that would result in widespread CEQA reform by, for instance, creating\u00a0timetables\u00a0for environmental reviews and more thorough judicial oversight of CEQA lawsuits. One can only hope the union shenanigans over Newsom\u2019s back-to-office orders might push the governor to embrace this campaign. Time will tell, but my expectations are limited.<\/p>\n

CASE\u2019s action is so far over the top that it\u2019s garnered plenty of negative media attention, ranging from\u00a0Reason<\/em> to the Washington Post<\/em>. It would be nice to see state workers finally head back to the office, just as most California workers have done years after the pandemic. But it will be well worth the delay if it convinces state leaders to finally get serious about CEQA reform.<\/p>\n

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. Write to him at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/span>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more Meet the Post-Biden Democrats: Biden\u2019s Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE by Steven Greenhut:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Bloomberg Is Back at His Nanny Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

Congress Gets Serious About Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s Continuing Self-Correction<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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