Governor Brown says 40 percent of all state workers now have taxpayer-funded cell phones - that's 96-thousand phones. Brown calls it "astounding." He's issued an Executive Order, asking agency and department heads to turn in half of them by June:
Brown: "We've got to look for waste. It's not just cutting government programs; it's looking for making government leaner and more effective."
Brown says the move will save the state about 20 million dollars. But Mike Whiteside, a bridge engineer with Caltrans, says eliminating some workers' phones - like his - may actually cost California:
Whiteside: "If we have a problem out in the field, if we have a situation, if we have delays, that can be very very costly in a matter of minutes."
The Governor's order comes a day after he released a budget
plan that calls for deep cuts to nearly every sector of government
and asks voters to extend temporary tax increases.