Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday rolled out the details of her furlough plans for state workers, announcing that many state departments would close on three Fridays a month starting in July while others would modify or adjust operations to minimize the disruption to the public.

The governor said she will issue an executive order for three furlough days a month for two years, which will cut pay by about 13.8 percent and save the state $688 million during a recession. The furloughs apply to about 15,600 state workers in 16 state departments and the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor.

The governor will impose spending restrictions equivalent to furloughs at the state Department of Education, the University of Hawai'i and the Hawai'i Health Systems Corp., which are governed by independent boards and have the discretion on how to achieve the cuts.

"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 at a news conference at the state Capitol.

She warned that if her furlough plans are blocked by public-sector labor unions in court, she would immediately turn to layoffs and state program cuts to close a $730 million budget deficit through June 2011.

The governor has previously said the state would have to lay off as many as 10,000 workers to get the same savings as her furlough plans, but yesterday downgraded that figure to about 2,500 state workers under her control. She said spending cuts to the state Department of Education of $278.4 million and the University of Hawai'i of $106.8 million, however, would likely result in additional layoffs because administrators would have few other alternatives.

Union leaders and some Democrats have been saying privately that Lingle's warning of 10,000 layoffs if her furlough plans fall through was an exaggeration meant to alarm state workers.

"I think it was intended to strike fear in the hearts of employees," said Randy Perreira, the executive director of the Hawai'i Government Employees Association.

State Rep. Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), the chairman of the House Finance Committee, described Lingle's estimate of 2,500 layoffs as a "more honest assessment."

"It scares the bejesus out of you when you're hearing something like 10,000 people being laid off. That's frightening for anyone," he said.

Oshiro said Lingle should be discussing the details of her furlough plans with labor unions in collective bargaining, not in news conferences. Labor unions have argued in legal challenges that furloughs and furlough procedures should be the subject of collective bargaining, but Lingle believes she has the "implied authority" under state labor law to order furloughs without negotiating.

A FEDERAL WARNING

Lingle said yesterday she has no plans to call the state Legislature back in special session to deal with the budget deficit, and Oshiro said lawmakers are not talking about coming back on their own at this time, so the furlough question will likely have to be resolved by the courts or at the bargaining table. Union contracts expire at the end of the month.

Union leaders are also preparing to compete with Lingle in the public-relations arena by suggesting the governor's furlough plans are among the harshest in the nation. Lingle's advisers acknowledge that three furlough days a month for two years is higher than many other states are considering, but they said governor's goal is to avert mass layoffs, such as in California, where 27,000 public school teachers were let go.

New York Gov. David Paterson warned of 8,500 layoffs in March before reaching an agreement with unions earlier this month.

Lingle said the $688 million she wants to save through furloughs represents about 25 percent of the cutbacks the state has made in response to a $2.7 billion decline in expected revenues because of the recession. State worker salaries and benefits are about 70 percent of the state's operating budget, so Lingle said state workers have to share in the sacrifice to help close the deficit.

"So for people who have felt that the employees of the state are taking too much on themselves, it really amounts to 25 percent of the total," Lingle said.

Lingle also dismissed warnings from the federal Social Security Administration that the state could lose $1.9 million in federal money and about 3,000 Social Security claims could be delayed over two years if the governor furloughs federally funded disability screeners. Lingle said the state has the authority to hire more disability screeners and would put additional resources into the program if workload demand increases.

The Social Security Administration has issued similar warnings to other states that have imposed furloughs, including California. The federal agency argues that since the state workers involved are paid with federal funds, including the workers in an across-the-board furlough plan is "counterproductive."

Former governor Ben Cayetano has defended the concept of furloughs as an option provided that labor unions are consulted. But he said furloughing state workers paid with federal funds does not make sense because the state's budget gap is more of a general-fund problem.

"Her intransigence on federal funded state employees is hard to defend — and it will be used by the unions as an example of the governor's refusal to consult in good faith," he said in an e-mail.

IMPACT WILL BE FELT

Under the furlough plans released yesterday, many departments will close for three Fridays a month while others will juggle furlough days to meet deadlines and satisfy public demand. Several departments will keep regular hours and stagger furloughs, while some will extend office hours during furlough weeks to help serve the public.

Details are still being finalized at departments that could have the most difficult time adjusting to furloughs because of safety concerns, including state prisons, the Hawai'i State Hospital and the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility.

Oshiro said he believes the public will feel the impact of state office closures on furlough days.

"I think people will immediately react to a government office — let's say Health and Human Services, Bureau of Conveyances, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs — not being there, not being open to service them, or issue a permit, or get a clearance, or apply for benefits," he said. "So I think definitely they'll realize the impact of these services being off-line on Fridays."