[NYAPRS Enews] NYP: Paterson Moves Ahead w State Furlough Plan Amidst Ongoing Budget Stalemate

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Gov Sticking With Furlough


By Fredric U. Dicker New York Post  May 3, 2010

 

Gov. Paterson yesterday moved ahead with plans to furlough 100,000 state
workers in just over a week, as insiders reported that "no progress" was
made in talks aimed at producing a new state budget. 

"The governor is not backing off. He is planning to move ahead with the
furloughs in the legislation he'll submit at the end of this week," a
Paterson administration source told The Post. 

Paterson's budget division is expected, as soon as tomorrow, to send a
detailed memo to state agencies outlining steps to be taken to implement
a one-day-a-week furlough for nonessential workers, which could save the
cash-strapped state as much as $30 million a week, according to the
source. 

The governor raised the specter of the unprecedented furloughs late last
month as he expressed frustration with the Legislature's refusal to cut
state spending as well as the refusal of the public-employee unions to
agree to concessions to help close a looming $9.5 billion budget
deficit. 

One insider said two of the large public-employee unions did make a
last-minute offer of some concessions to the governor, but only in
exchange for a firm, four-year contract guarantee, including wage hikes.


But "the governor made it clear that he wasn't going to lock whomever
the next governor is going to be into a four-year contract," the
administration source said. 

The furloughs would be contained in a temporary, one-week
budget-extension bill, which, if rejected by the union-friendly
Legislature, would lead to the shutdown of the entire state government. 

Meanwhile, insiders said already serious tension over differing budget
plans being backed by the Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly have
gotten worse in recent days, making it unlikely that the state's
more-than-one-month-overdue budget would be approved anytime soon. 

Among the major areas of disagreement are the Senate's insistence --
despite the huge deficit -- on a politically popular property-tax rebate
and a new Senate plan to lift the cap on the number of charter schools,
which is strongly opposed by the teachers-union-friendly Assembly.

fredric.dicker at nypost.com 

 

http://www.nypost.com/f/print/news/local/gov_sticking_with_furlough_zq7C
R8hTNLCaY8GzmNUNJO 

 

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