State Offices to Close First and Third Fridays
SACRAMENTO (AP) – Californians – and their state government employees – will start feeling the pain of the state’s fiscal crisis in February when offices will be closed two days a month.
The recurring shutdown of state government is the first time budget problems have forced California officials to take such a step, according to the Department of Personnel Administration.
The Schwarzenegger administration announced the move on Jan. 9, revealing how it planned to implement the executive order the governor signed last month mandating furloughs for state workers.
State offices will close the first and third Fridays of each month starting Feb. 6. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the step is needed to start addressing a budget deficit projected at $42 billion through June 2010.
The two-day-a-month furloughs are expected to save $1.3 billion over that period.
Exceptions to the alternating Friday schedule will be made for prisons, hospitals, parks and some other agencies, mostly if they generate money for the state, Department of Personnel Administration spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley said. Employees at those agencies will be furloughed on a rotating schedule.
“Typically, state government is less active on the whole on Fridays,” said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger. “Secondly, by shutting down entire buildings, we will realize savings by not having facilities open. Lastly, we understand how difficult this is for state workers. Hopefully, having a three-day weekend will help soften the blow.”
McLear said the order could be amended before it takes effect if the administration finds other ways to run government offices more efficiently with less inconvenience to citizens and employees.
Workers Seek to Stop Changes
The furlough program also could be stopped before it begins.
State employee unions have sued to prevent it, saying the administration acted illegally. They argue the furloughs must be agreed to by the unions or enacted by the Legislature.
Last week, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge scheduled a hearing on the challenge for Jan. 29, a week before the first scheduled furlough day. While Judge Patrick Marlette might not rule that day, he could issue an injunction preventing Schwarzenegger’s executive order from taking effect.
“We respect that they are trying to make this easier on state workers. But the bottom line is they’re not doing us any favors,” said Jim Zamora, spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the largest state employees’ union.
He said closing state offices twice a month will affect taxpayers—meaning longer lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles and more frustration for those seeking unemployment benefits.
“If they’re shut two days a month, that’s just more Californians who are going to be denied services, who are going to have to wait longer for services,” Zamora said.
Many prison and health care employees already work mandatory overtime to cover vacant shifts, so it is unclear how they can cover two additional open days a month, he said.
Some employees who are not on the alternating Friday schedule, including those at prisons and hospitals, will be able to save their furlough days and use them within two years after the mandatory program ends.
Schwarzenegger’s order does not affect employees of the Legislature, judiciary, university systems or constitutional offices such as treasurer, attorney general or secretary of state, who are outside the governor’s control.
The Friday closures are an effort to cut spending while ensuring that essential services are not jeopardized, said David Gilb, director of the Department of Personnel Administration.
He said the department is consulting with state labor unions, despite their lawsuits to stop the furloughs.
Three state employee unions have filed separate lawsuits, each alleging that Schwarzenegger exceeded his authority and violated the collective bargaining process when he announced the furloughs.
The unions say Schwarzenegger’s order amounts to a nearly 10 percent pay cut for the 235,000 affected state workers. California Highway Patrol officers are exempt because their union is the only one with a contract still in effect.
Contracts covering the state’s other employee groups have expired and are being negotiated.
Schwarzenegger’s lawyers are seeking to have the lawsuits challenging his furlough order dismissed on technical grounds. They say the issue should be decided by the Public Employment Relations Board, whose five members are appointed by the governor.
If the judge decides he has jurisdiction, he will consider whether the governor can act unilaterally.
The Professional Engineers in California Government are joined in their lawsuit by the California Association of Professional Scientists.
Similar lawsuits were filed by the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, and by California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment.
Attorneys agreed during last week’s court hearing to have the lawsuits considered jointly.
