Governor orders state offices to close 2 days a month
To save money on employee salaries, the Schwarzenegger administration has ordered many state offices, like the DMV, to close on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month.
Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration issued an order to close many state offices on the first and third Fridays of each month starting Feb. 6, as part of its plan to save money on employee salaries, according to a department memorandum issued today.
The Department of Motor Vehicles is among the agencies likely to be affected as the state's cash crisis worsens, officials said. Individual agencies are expected to release their plans next week.
"We're working through those details in the coming days," said Lynelle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration. "Right now we just need to get the word out to our employees."
Essential services such as prisons will not close. Instead, managers will have to work out staggered schedules for employees to take furloughs so agency operations can continue.
The announcement came as three state employee unions continued to press their legal challenge against Schwarzenegger's furlough plan, which aims to save the state about 9% of state government salaries as it grapples with a budget gap estimated to reach $41.6 billion by the middle of next year.
Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette in Sacramento agreed today to hear arguments in the case on Jan. 29.
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