Furlough Friday in California

by Jordan Yerman | February 6, 2009 at 01:29 pm

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Today is the first Furlough Friday for the state of California: in an attempt to slow down the horrendous budget deficit, several hundred thousand state employees are now forced to take two days of unpaid leave per month.

It's like the rolling brownout of layoffs. This plan presumes (incorrectly, I would imagine) that California's citizens won't need any state services on those two days per month, which occur on fridays in most cases, but are staggered throughout the week for a few departments. DMV closures will be particularly problematic, since the Dept. of Motor Vehicles is a zone of total slowness at the best of times.

Employees in the offices of California's statewide electeds are working today.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger insists he still has the power to furlough them. Both sides are citing the same ruling from a Sacramento Superior Court judge on Thursday.

Long story short: More court battles are likely to follow

Twice-monthly furloughs are the latest turn as the state's economic situation spirals out of control. Construction projects around California stopped last month, the state controller postponed tax refunds earlier this week and California will run out of cash in the next few weeks unless the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agree on a plan to fix the state's $42 billion deficit.

If you work in California's capital city of Sacramento, you can spend your furlough day at the bar:

Of course, you can always drink your pay cut woes away. The Rubicon Brewing Company is offering 10 percent off your bill to furloughed statees.