State Furloughs Begin

TRENTON – New Jersey state departments and agencies have begun a series of one-day closures.
In April, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced plans to implement the one-day temporary layoffs in May and June in response to a steep decline in state revenues as a result of the national economic crisis.
“One of the things we’re trying to accomplish with furloughs is to reduce the cost of operating government. Furloughs allow us to balance our budget while still maintaining services,” Corzine said.
“Furloughs are going on across the country not just in New Jersey. Until we get out of this recession, which I believe there is a lot of reason to have positive expectations because there is a major recovery program President Obama has put in place and Congress has supported and we helped shape here in the state of New Jersey. That recovery will work its way through the system and revenues will come back and we will be able to get back to what people would call normal operations of government activities. Until we get through that, we’re not like the federal government. We have a constitutional responsibility to balance revenues and expenditures, and we’re doing that.”
The Fiscal Year 2009 temporary layoffs began with the closure of the Casino Control Commission on May 15. Motor Vehicle Commission offices and facilities are closed, however New Jerseyans may have their vehicles inspected at State inspection stations, which operate under a private contract.
The one-day closures will continue on Friday, May 22 when 28 Executive Branch departments and agencies along with the Judicial Branch are scheduled to close, while the remaining seven Executive branch agencies will be closed Tuesday, May 26.
The Governor stressed it is preferable to achieve payroll savings through temporary layoffs and wage freezes rather than permanent layoffs, which would add thousands to the state’s unemployment rolls.
Last month, implementation of a provision of an emergency rule adopted by the Civil Service Commission which would have allowed agencies to stagger temporary layoffs was stayed by the Appellate Division of the Superior Court in a decision which upheld the validity of the emergency regulation.
Under the currently effective portions of the regulation, agencies may effectuate temporary layoffs via entire agency closure, with limited exceptions for services that must be provided to “ensure continued public health and safety including, but not limited to, child welfare, law enforcement and care for prisoners, patients and other residents in the care or custody of the State.”
“We have tried to cause the least amount of disruption of services to taxpayers in scheduling these needed temporary layoffs,” Corzine said. “Clearly, staggering temporary layoffs would have minimized inconvenience to the public.”
A listing of departmental furlough closings can be found at www.state.nj.us/csc/ .