Lingle orders furloughs for state employees to meet revenue shortfall

Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Facing a $729 million budget shortfall by fiscal 2011, Gov. Lingle this afternoon ordered all state employees to take furloughs three days a month for the next two years. The furloughs are to start July 1, Lingle said in a statewide television address.

The three-day-a-month plan would save $688 million, Lingle said.

After implementing the furloughs, the state will still need to save an additional $42 million. This would be done by scaling back health benefits for the poor.

Lingle said university and public school and hospital employees would not be furloughed, but their departmental budgets would be cut by an amount equivalent to the savings that furloughs would result in.

Read more: http://www.starbulletin.com/news/breaking/Lingle_orders_furloughs_for_state_employees_to_meet_revenue_shortfall.html

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Looks like it's "Bust The Public Employee Unions Week" here in the West. First Ahh-nuld announces he's cutting the pay of unionized home health care aides from $12 and change to $8 an hour. And now this from his buddy Lingle (R-And Starting To Act Like It). Also note how she took a backhanded swipe at health care, one of the few areas in which we are (or used to be, anyway) a national leader.

And so it begins.

and quite a number of my colleagues are state employees. :grr:

:P

Did she add that in?

Well, it's good that we're all so humble and helpful.

Any paycuts in the governor's executive staff?