Gov’s stalled furlough plan leaves savings in doubt

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s plan to have all state employees take off six unpaid days before July 1 was a key part of the administration’s attempt to eliminate a projected $151 million shortfall for the fiscal year that ends June 30. But the plan has gone nowhere since it was unveiled in January.
Administration officials said last week that talks continue with the labor unions that represent many of the 15,000 state employees, in an effort to implement the furlough plan that would save an estimated $14.8 million this year.
But one union leader said recently that he hasn’t met with the Carcieri administration about the unpaid days in more than a month.
“We had one or two meetings, and then no more,” said J. Michael Downey, president of Council 94, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME). “We thought we were doing OK, but then the discussions just stopped. Why? I don’t know.”
When it was first proposed three months ago, the plan would have had employees taking one unpaid day a month before the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
The delay, Downey said, has made that plan – and possibly the whole idea of furloughs this fiscal year – unworkable. “Now it would be next to impossible because you’d have to take so many days you’d end up with two or three days in one pay period,” said Downey, whose union represents about 5,000 state workers. “I don’t see how that will happen.”
Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal said both sides continue to communicate about the proposed furloughs.
“The conversations have been ongoing fairly consistently,” Neal said last week. “We are having conversations with leadership to determine what is possible between now and the end of the fiscal year. And those conversations have not concluded.”
The furlough plan is part of the fiscal 2008 supplemental budget proposal made public in January that would close a projected $151 million deficit this year through a series of measures, some controversial and some requiring legislative approval.
With little more than two months left in the fiscal year, the General Assembly has yet to act on the overall supplemental budget plan. Legislators were on break last week and were expected to begin discussing the governor’s proposal as soon as this week.
“Clearly, the sooner some of these provisions are enacted, the more money we can save,” Neal said. “The window for achieving savings is closing as we near the end of the fiscal year.”
Some actions have been taken. Some portions of the supplemental budget proposal have been converted into a separate piece of legislation.
For instance, the General Assembly took action recently to curtail the state’s historic tax credit program, part of Carcieri’s supplemental package.
George Welly, the state’s deputy budget officer, said legislators also are considering a measure that would allow inmates to cut up to 12 days from their sentence for every month of good behavior while imprisoned, and another that would cap the Training School population. Both were part of Carcieri’s proposed 2008 budget revisions.
No matter what, the state must finished the year with a balanced budget. It’s mandated by the state constitution, according to Welly. And it’s required in order for the state to maintain a good bond rating.
Last year, a technical accounting glitch caused the state to finish the year with an $11 million shortfall. State officials had to dig into its rainy-day fund to close the unexpected deficit. “It was the first time we did that, but the amount was an extremely small fraction of the total amount of the fund,” Welly said.
In the meantime, Neal said, the administration continues to move forward with its planned layoff of 1,000 state employees, although most of the savings will be in next year’s budget.
Neal said the first round of layoffs are almost complete – although he didn’t immediately have the number of employees let go – and now the administration is ready to move to the so-called List B, another 426 workers notified last year that their jobs are in jeopardy.
“We’re moving forward on everything we can move forward on,” Neal said.
The six-day furlough plan doesn’t need General Assembly approval, but the cooperation of the labor unions would make things easier.
But, according to Downey, the earlier discussions between Council 94 and the administration went beyond the furloughs. Downey said union officials floated the idea of extending the contract, which expires in July, and “small raises.”
He also pushed for a no-layoff clause. “We’d like to get that so people feel like they have a job at least for a few years,” Downey said.
The administration, he said, sought to increase the amount employees pay for health benefits. It’s currently 2.5 percent of a worker’s salary, but Downey said, administration official asked for 20 percent of the cost of the total health premium.
Neal declined to comment on specifics of the negotiations. &#8226