Furlough Fridays Back For State Workers

Furlough Fridays are back on for thousands of state employees. They were on hold, but the California Supreme Court lifted a restraining order that prevented Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from imposing them.

The furloughs will affect nearly 150,000 state workers, but they are expected to save the state about $150 million a month.

Schwarzenegger says the state is running out of money, and he needs to cut costs until the legislature passes a new budget.

“As soon as we have a budget, we’re not going to do the furloughs. The furloughs go away as soon as the legislature does their job and passes a budget,” said Aaron McLear, the governor’s spokesman.

State workers had already coped with a round of furloughs that ended in June. The governor ordered an additional three furlough days a month, but a restraining order prevented him from imposing the unpaid days off.

But then the California Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that furloughs can resume while it considers the case.

“The longer it takes for us to resolve this budget, the more severe the solutions are going to have to be,” said Assemblyman John Perez.

The furloughs will have a big impact on those who need to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles on Friday. The DMV will be closed today and next Friday. People who scheduled appointments will need to reschedule.

KABC contributed to this report