Sacramento Update: Friday Furlough

Thanks Carol for the update and glad to hear your department was exempt from the pay cuts. Hope these changes help the state!

Hi Cathy,

I work for The Department of Justice in downtown Sacramento. We were on pins and needles all week wondering if we were going to be part of the Governor's ordered twice a month furlough. On Thursday we found out that we would not be participating. Unlike the fate of 200,000 other California State employees, a judge decided that we were not part of the lawsuit against the furloughs brought before him as our boss, Attorney General Jerry Brown, is an elected official. There are five such state agencies that are not participating in the furloughs, Dept of Justice, Secretary of State, Treasurer's, Dept of Education and Dept of Insurance all constitutional offices.

Friday, February 6th, was the first day of the Governor's imposed state employee furlough. I did not notice any change in the traffic driving into work. A fellow employee that rides the light rail, usually filled with state commuters, said the train was virtually empty. When I walked into the office there was an unusual silence. I knew everyone was to be at work, although I could not see them over the cubicle walls. The phones were not ringing. It was eerily silent. We all felt a little guilty that we were not participating and would not be getting a 10% cut in pay like other state employees throughout California. Infact there are alot of our friends and spouses, who work for the state, who were off for this first furlough day. I did not venture out of the building to check out how the restaurants were faring as there was a light rain throughout the day. The microwave was as far as I got to warm up my South Beach diet pizza. A lot of the restaurants will be advertising dinner specials to at least get some business in the evening is what the papers are telling us. The Friday lunch crowd is the busiest time for downtown Restaurants usually filled with State workers.

The governor and legislative leaders are only two blocks away in the Capitol building deciding the fate of California. They are trying to fix the $42 billion deficit with an 18 month budget. From my 8th floor window I could look down on them, if it weren't for a large towering building in the way. I can see the parking lots below and they are empty.

Empty state employee parking lot


The governor has threatened that if the furloughs are not taken there may be layoffs and demotions ahead. All we can do is wait to hear what will happen to us. We have openings in our office that may not get filled so our employees have been stretched to the limit with increased workloads. No one complains though as it could be a lot worse. There are a lot of single employees and those with small children all the way thru children in college that live from paycheck to paycheck as it is.

Here is an interesting article I found in the paper today.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Little-known pay boosts to dozens of California Senate aides are costing taxpayers about $350,000 each year. The practice surfaced after a Senate committee voted last month to stop adding employees to the stipend program because the state faces a $42 billion budget shortfall. Sixty-eight employees get up to $1,000 in monthly pay sweeteners. The money comes from senators' office expense allowances. The Senate does not disclose the stipends in public pay records. The list was obtained by The Sacramento Bee after the paper received an anonymous tip. Senate Secretary Greg Schmidt said he keeps few records about the program. He could not say how much money the state has paid in past years. Senate leaders defend the program as necessary to retain key employees.
The Associated Press

Hanging in there in Sacramento.
Carol (Nicholls) Lebrecht