In today's Patriot News, Brett Lieberman (of Pennsyltucky Politics fame) writes in "State looks for ways to pay those furloughed,"
An extra snow day, a personal day or other administrative leave are some of the options the Rendell administration is considering as a way of compensating the nearly 24,000 workers that Gov. Ed Rendell ordered furloughed Sunday night when a budget deal remained elusive.
In other words, they are likely to be paid in time not money. To those with flush bank accounts this might be okay, but not all state workers are in that situation:
PennDOT employee Chiffon Saunders, 21, of Harrisburg, agreed.
"I work from paycheck to paycheck, and I usually don't miss days from work," Saunders said. "I have a 6-month-old son and he needs to eat and the bills need to be paid ... and them keeping me out for a day" will cost about $100, she estimated.
What has bugged her the most, Saunders added, is that those that caused the impasse -- the governor and lawmakers -- will all be paid in full retroactively once the budget is enacted. Paying workers affected by their standoff only seems right, she said.
She has a point there.
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Of course, I heard from a lot of people -- "essential" state workers and non-state workers -- who think the furloughed workers should not be paid because they didn't work.
If they get an admin day for a day they wouldn't normally work, say a Saturday or Sunday, that would be equal to the day's pay they lost. Or they might be paid for a "snow day" for this past winter. It doesn't necessarily follow that the reason for the paid time, which might normally be a day off from work, means the state workers WILL be off.
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