In a dramatic bid to shore up a worsening fiscal crisis, the state of Hawaii will furlough most state workers starting in January for two days a month.
The unpaid days off, which will continue indefinitely, translate to a 9% pay cut.
Gov. David Ige announced the furlough plan today, saying it’s expected to save the state approximately $300 million a year and will be coupled with a host of other budget cuts to programs.
He said the furloughs are needed to help address a $1.4 billion general fund shortfall.
“I must take steps now to enable state employees to remain their jobs, that keep the government running and minimize layoffs,” Ige said, adding the furloughs will not apply to nurses, firefighters and other first responders along with employees whose salaries are not paid for by general funds.
The governor and his cabinet members will also take pay cuts.
There is no end date for the furloughs, but Ige added that they would be halted when the state’s economic picture improves. “I will evaluate the need to continue the furlough on an ongoing basis,” he said. “The furlough will be rescinded as soon as it is no longer needed.”
The state Department of Education and University of Hawaii will not be spared the budget cuts ― or furloughs. He added their furlough plans will be different, and are being finalized now.
The governor said he is instituting the furloughs with a “heavy heart” and acknowledges the pay cut comes as families are already struggling amid the pandemic.
And in addition to furlough days, Ige warned of deep cuts elsewhere:
• Some $600 million will be cut from programs every year, starting in fiscal year 2022.
• A hiring freeze is in place for thousands of non-critical vacancies.
• And some $197 million was pulled back from the fiscal year 2021 budget in addition to the $205 million the Legislature slashed.
Additionally, the governor has restricted discretionary spending and transferred money from the rainy day and other emergency funds into the general fund.
In an email to state workers earlier Wednesday, Ige said furloughs were a “last resort.”
“I sorely wish furloughs could have been avoided,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, schools Superintendent Christina Kishimoto discussed proposed cuts to education spending, saying the system needs to cut at least $264 million over the next two years.
“This is going to be detrimental to our public school system and I don’t see how we can afford this if we really want to have economic recovery,” Kishimoto told HNN’s Sunrise.
“There will be an impact on students.”
The state budget has been battered by the pandemic, especially during the tourism shutdown. Since October, visitors have been returning ― but the recovery is slow and fragile.
