Gov. Linda Lingle said today that many state offices will carry out her furlough plans by closing on three Fridays a month.

State departments plan to stagger furloughs and take other steps to minimize the disruption to state services.
Lingle, speaking at a news conference at the state Capitol, said three furlough days a month for the next two years would save the state $688 million.
“This is not something I want to do. It’s something I have to do in order to balance the state budget and to close this unprecedented budget gap that we face,” Lingle said.
The governor said the labor savings amount to about 25 percent of the state’s spending reduction due to a $2.7 billion decline in revenue because of the recession.
Lingle said that if her furlough plans are blocked in court by public-sector labor unions, she would have to resort to layoffs and state program cuts. She said about 2,500 state workers under her direct jurisdiction could face layoffs, while state departments governed by independent boards would face spending cuts.
The governor had said previously that the state would need to layoff 10,000 state workers to save the same amount of money as her furlough plans.
For more on Lingle's furlough plan, go to:
http://hawaii.gov/gov/furlough/