Thousands of state workers stay home as part of governor's furlough program

Officials of state employee unions continued negotiating Friday with the governor's office in an effort to roll back the furloughs, saying there are better ways to save money. Administration officials said they are open to making changes that would save money. Californians are nearly evenly split on their views of the program, a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found. Roughly 49% of residents opposed the furloughs and 45% approve, the poll found.

Some of the employees subject to furlough days are not required to take them on the first and third Fridays. Public safety workers, including California Highway Patrol officers, will take their unpaid leave under different arrangements to keep vital services operating. Franchise Tax Board employees and Fish and Game enforcement workers also are among this group.

In addition, employees of all eight statewide elected officials, except the governor, are not subject to the furlough program. These include employees of the secretary of state, treasurer and insurance commissioner, among others.

The effect of the furloughs played out in different ways throughout California.

Downtown Sacramento, dominated by state office buildings, was largely empty Friday. It was smooth sailing on the typically clogged freeways leading into the city, and some of the shops and restaurants that rely on state workers didn't even bother to open.

But at the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles, nearly every service was up and running, including the child-care center and the cafeteria. The building houses many of the services currently not subject to the furlough program, such as the secretary of state and the Franchise Tax Board, and some whose employees will take different unpaid days off.

Some state agencies closed only some of their services Friday. For instance, the Workers Compensation Appeals Board and the Division of Workers Compensation offices were closed, but the state Compensation Insurance Fund was open.

Nowhere were Californians more affected than at the approximately 180 DMV offices. The agency, on average, processes 136,000 vehicle registrations and 35,000 driver's licenses per day, said spokesman Mike Marando.

In San Francisco, dozens of people stopped by the DMV office, only to find signs on the doors saying the office was closed.

Jose Lara, 45, a San Francisco house painter who arrived to register his car, was annoyed to find that he would have to come back another day.