(Sacramento Bee) // Just after it was revealed that California faces a budget deficit of $16 billion, how and when to pay crippling pension costs has become a major public debate. The California Public Employees' Retirement System voted to raise the annual state payment for state worker pensions by $213 million to a total of $3.7 billion, despite Governor Jerry Brown’s recommendation for an even bigger increase to avoid accruing more debt.
At the moment, Austin Hills is wearing an orange t-shirt, orange pants, and wrist shackles. He’s sitting in an interview room in the San Francisco County Jail in San Bruno.
Not too long ago, the men now sitting around a table at the Contra Costa Probation Office were in prison. “I want to ask how long have you been in prison,” Chief Adult Probation Officer Philip Kader asks them. They respond with three, six and even 12 times.
