SACRAMENTO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday brought back furloughs for thousands of state workers until California passes a budget.
Schwarzenegger released a new executive order requiring state workers to take three unpaid days off per month starting next month. State workers were furloughed a total of 46 days when Schwarzenegger issued a similar order in February 2009, which translated to a pay cut of about 14 percent for workers.
It's unclear how long the latest round of furloughs could last, as Schwarzenegger and lawmakers enter the fifth week of the new fiscal year without a balanced budget.
"Without a budget in place that addresses our $19 billion budget deficit, every day of delay brings California closer to a fiscal meltdown," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Our cash situation leaves me no choice but to once again furlough state workers until the Legislature produces a budget I can sign."
It also exempts about 37,000 workers in six unions that recently reached tentative labor agreements with the administration.
The state has about 237,000 workers.
The furlough puts pressure on remaining unions that have not agreed to the governor's demands for pension reforms. Unions have also been fighting the governor's efforts to impose the federal minimum wage while the state operates without a budget.
"To once again force state employees to take unpaid furloughs is just another punitive measure by Gov. Schwarzenegger because he couldn't impose minimum wage," said Patty Velez, president of the California Association of Professional Scientists, which represents 3,000 state employees.
The state Assembly's Republican leader, Martin Garrick, said Democrats who control the Legislature were to blame because they have refused to make cuts that Republicans, including Schwarzenegger, have demanded.
"I believe they've brought it on themselves and their constituents — and mine — that have been furloughed, because they haven't made the reductions," he said in a telephone interview. "The longer we go, the deeper the cuts have to be."
Democrats have vowed to protect education and social service programs, such as CalWORKS, the state's welfare-to-work program. They have proposed delaying corporate tax breaks and a new oil tax.