Jerry Brown bans nonessential travel by state employees

Reporting from Sacramento—

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday forbade all state employee travel that is not "mission critical" to the operation of California government.

"Our fiscal challenges demand that we take a much closer look at how taxpayer dollars are being spent within state government," Brown said in a written statement accompanying his executive order. "Now is not the time to attend conferences, travel to meetings or take out-of-state field trips."

Some inspectors, auditors, tax collectors and others will still be allowed to crisscross the state. But travel deemed essential now must be approved by agency and department heads, Brown's order states. Out-of-state trips must receive approval from the governor's office.

Administration officials said they did not have an estimate on how much money the order would save, but said hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent annually on travel. It is not clear how much of that will be deemed essential. The governor's proposed budget already counts on uncovering $250 million in general fund savings from improved efficiency in state operations.
The executive order is the latest in a series of moves Brown has made to cut costs and build public support for his budget package. He has curbed car and cellphone privileges for government workers, imposed a hiring freeze and is trying to recover unrepaid salary advances and travel advances that have gone unaccounted for in recent years.