Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Not So Bad in the Badger State

I have, on occasion, ranted a bit about the forced "furloughs" taking place this year in oder to help the state of Wisconsin reverse budgetary setbacks. And, of course, I've whined about how I didn't cause the problem...yada,yada, yada. Today, I discover that it's not so bad being here after all.
Currently, 19 states have enacted measures whereby some or all of the state workers get "vacation" time from both work and pay. Here in Cheeseland, full time state employees get 8 days off each year for two years, amounting to, perhaps, a bit more than a 3% reduction in salary. While not pleasant, it beats many other plans by a wide magin:
Rhode Island's governor reported today that state employees there will be taking 12 days off...the exceptions being law enforcement, hospitals and the department of corrections as well as public transportation. The DMV? forget it...get your license another day. And with the second-highest unemployment rate in the country, this will fray a few more nerves while saving an estimated $68 million.
Arizona, Maine and Illinois offer their workers the same 12-day furloughs while California workers take off 3 days a month through June of 2010. (in addition to furloughing some 27,000 people currently in jail!)
Governor David Paterson of New York took an even harsher stand: when unions indicated that he might be breaking a contract to furlough those workers, he indicated that he would, otherwise, lay off 8,900 folks! How about that for a choice?
Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii seems to have taken a more "re-electable" stance: she has decreed that she, her cabinet and their deputies would all take two days off without pay. Perhaps Hawaii has less of a budgetary shortfall than anyone else, but this strikes me as a better way to begin than those seen so far.
At this point,I'm just happy to have a job in the Badger State.

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