The complex way California pays 300,000 state workers each month, and how new raises are added

If California’s state payroll system were a person, it would be nearing its 70th birthday this year. Like some septuagenarians, the payroll system periodically finds itself struggling to keep pace in the modern age. Unions, workers and lawmakers alike have taken turns over the years bashing the system for delays in payroll changes and occasional pay mistakes. In the last six years, two different state worker unions have either taken or threatened legal action against the state due to delayed raises. Still, despite the burden of a cumbersome and outdated apparatus, the State Controller’s Office...