Hidden Costs of State Furloughs in California
The present budget deficit faced by the State of California is around $26 billion and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is seeking a solution to bridge this deficit gap through three furlough days a month. These furloughs have affected at least 215,000 workers employed with the State. Losses incurred by these state employees are equal to a 14% cut of total pay. According to the Governor, these monthly furloughs are absolutely necessary and are expected to save California over $1.3 billion. This move on the part of the Governor has brought about a mixed reaction among state employees. They are both resigned and angry at having to bear the brunt of the cash crisis. It is pertinent to note that even governments do not benefit entirely from furloughs and actually tend to lose in terms of service levels. For instance, if a State engineer were to take a three-day furlough every month, the amount of work requiring their immediate attention will have to be outsourced. Outsourcing incidentally costs more than actually paying the employee for that day. Instead of reducing expenditures, the State is actually increasing it. In addition to this, where employees of social security go on furlough, it will cause delay in payments, causing more problems for people dependent on such services. Another dilemma faced by the State is whether to give overtime to an employee who has taken a furlough in the same week. Furloughs cause work to pile up and if there is something that requires urgent attention and the employee has to work overtime in the same week to deliver the job, then what does the State do? Most likely bring in contractors. Comments (5)California collects a higher percentage of its residents' income in taxes than any other state. Taxing our way out of this is total bullshit! Something has to be cut! The state can't keep spending money it does not have. I even wonder if it is worth it. $1.3 billion out of $24-26 billion is nothing. Until I read this, I never even knew that employees are now asking for overtime because of days missed from the furloughs. The outsourcing of work has to stop as well. The reality of the situation is that not any one thing is the issue. Unfortunately look like taxes are going to have to go up. :( I even wonder if it is worth it. $1.3 billion out of $24-26 billion is nothing. Until I read this, I never even knew that employees are now asking for overtime because of days missed from the furloughs. The outsourcing of work has to stop as well. The reality of the situation is that not any one thing is the issue. Unfortunately look like taxes are going to have to go up. :( I don't pity the state workers one bit! I work for private industry and I had to take a pay cut. We are all feeling it! What does irk me is that Schwarzenegger wants to equally mandate furloughs when in fact not all departments of government are created equal. The fact that they are outsourcing work is nuts! They need take a close look and be sure to furlough workers whose contract replacements are charging and arm and a leg. I wonder which big contracting firms are making out? I heard that contractors don't come cheap. I heard some of the CalTrans contractors charge around $120 per hour. |
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