Among those covered by the plan: Motor Vehicle Administration clerks, biologists at the Department of Natural Resources, urban planners and employees at the University System of Maryland. Emergency personnel in health and public safety, including state police, would be exempt from having to take furloughs, and the furlough scheme doesn't apply to the legislative or judicial branches, which O'Malley doesn't control.
One state worker interviewed yesterday said such a furlough plan might be a solution to save permanent positions.
"It's good to spread the pain. I'd rather see everybody take a little bit of the hit than to have people lose their jobs," said David Fisher, a Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation employee. "I've been unemployed, and I know what it's like. I don't want to wish that on anybody, especially this time of year heading into the new year. I'm willing to do my share."
Fisher, who would lose five work days, added that he works a second job in order to support his wife and two kids, and that the potential loss of income will effect his financial situation. "But not so that I can't survive," he said. "We'll make adjustments."
By creating mandatory long holiday weekends, the state would save overhead costs by not opening buildings those days. The resulting salary reductions would be spread over the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, to mitigate the financial burden on families of the lowest paid workers.
The budget-cutting measures are being proposed as the economic recession has lowered tax collections. State budget forecasters are expected to reduce revenue estimates for this budget year by $200 million, leaving a $150 million deficit in the $14 billion state operating budget. The governor plans to propose a number of reductions in coming weeks to keep the budget balanced, as required by law.
Roughly half of the savings from furloughs would come from higher education. Joseph Vivona, chief operating officer of the University System of Maryland, said officials will meet with presidents of the system's 11 public universities by week's end to work out the logistics of complying with a furlough plan. He said it was "way too early" to predict which workers would be asked to take unpaid days off, except to say that campus emergency workers "would be excluded, no matter what."
