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Many state offices will close extra days under furlough plan

MADISON - Many state offices would be closed four additional days over the next two years, under a plan to furlough state employees to help chip away at a budget shortfall.

Offices would be closed on Presidents’ Day; the Friday before Memorial Day; Columbus Day; and the day after Thanksgiving, under the plan announced Tuesday by Jennifer Donnelly, director of the Office of State Employment Relations.

Individual agencies have leeway, but Donnelly said she will encourage many of them to close those days.

The plan would take care of half the furloughs approved by Gov. Jim Doyle and his fellow Democrats who control the state Legislature. Employees would be required to take eights days off annually during the two-year budget that begins July 1.

Donnelly said virtually all state employees will be required to take furloughs, even if they are paid through federal grants or private donations, as some University of Wisconsin System employees are. She said she did not know whether UW coaches or others paid through contracts can be furloughed.

Agencies will have to submit furlough plans to Donnelly’s office. They could reduce workers’ hours every week over the two years or allow employees to take unpaid days off throughout the year. In the second case, employees would be allowed to take off only one unpaid day a week -- a move that would mean most employees wouldn’t qualify for unemployment compensation.

Donnelly said some offices can be closed relatively easily but some operations -- such as prisons, nursing homes, hospitals and power plants -- need specific furlough plans because they run 24 hours a day.

Donnelly said the furloughs, coupled with the recent rollback of a planned 2 percent pay raise, would save $224 million over two years.