The Assembly Republican Caucus released this document providing statistics on "California Private Sector Job Loss vs. State Employee Job Cost." The key numbers are:

Real Facts: California Private Sector Job Loss vs. State Employee Job Cost

12.3%	California Unemployment Rate
2.24M	Californians currently listed as unemployed
-1,298,700	Private sector jobs lost in California since 2005
+38,100	State government jobs added since 2005
$55,000	Average California private sector job salary
$3,600	Average state taxes paid by each private sector employee
$90,000	Average cost to taxpayers to pay salary and benefits for each California government job
25	Private sector jobs it takes to support one government job

It is an interesting way to look at the costs of state employees. There are few things that make some of the numbers sort of an apples and oranges comparison. For example, the government employee "salary" includes benefits while the private sector "salary" is only salary. Undoubtably, the government workers will still cost more, but it won't be as much. State government workers also pay state taxes, don't they? So, they're paying a small portion of their own salary.

The reality however is that the disparity between state government and private sector jobs that has traditionally existed is gone. The commonly held belief was that while the government jobs paid lower salaries than private sector jobs, they had better benefits, better retirement and job security. The government workers were willing to give up the additional salary in exchange for the other benefits. That simply isn't the case any more. Thanks to the administration of Governor Jerry Brown and subsequent governors, public employee collective bargaining rules have resulted in a reversal of the salary discrepancy and have led the public employee unions to become the real power in Sacramento. The unions, representing teachers, prison guards, nurses and other state employees have used the huge pot of dues they receive to control the very legislators who control the purse strings and who make the rules that govern their unions and the agencies they negotiate with.

This power structure is one of the reasons our state is in such a terrible fiscal situation and why many wonder if it can be fixed.