Make the legislators pay

Re “State worker wages may be slashed,” July 24

I see that our governor is going to order the minimum wage for state workers. Does that include legislators? What good is a Constitution when the budget part of it is ignored year after year? Is California the only state with a constitutional provision for a budget deadline? How many other states consistently fail to meet that deadline? Legislators should forfeit their per diem and be fined for each day they miss the budget deadline. People blamed Gray Davis for budget problems. It seems to me that he was the scapegoat for the Legislature’s shortcomings. If the Constitution requires a budget by July 1, these people should get their act together.

Lou Wiener

Santa Clarita