Two weeks off

Has anyone else heard the rumor about state employees being forced to take two weeks off without pay?

Not a rumor. It is one of the ideas being "floated" around the Puzzle Palace as a way to close the gap on the 2.3 BILLION shortfall in the current budget. Another idea involves cutting state employee pay by 6.6%.

[FWCCivilian]

While nothing has been decided/ won't be decided until the Special Session starts on January 5, it is true that both ideas have been discussed in the Governor's Office and some Legislative Committees.

Bill Cotterell wrote an interesting column on this issue in the Tallahassee Democrat last week. Here is the link:

[www.tallahassee.com/article/20081215/COLUMNIST03/812150303/-1/columnists] (cut and paste the address in your browser, for some reason, I could not get the hyperlink to work on the forum)

Personally, I'd rather take the furlough than the salary reduction, because I am quite certain that once they cut your base salary (affecting your retirement, by the way), they are not likely to restore it to pre-cut levels anytime soon. However, I also think that there is going to be a number of positions exempt from the furlough if that is they way they are going, such as corrections and law enforcement positions, since crime does not stop just because the state is shutting down. So I could imagine that sworn members might not be subject to a furlough.

Let's hope for the best.