FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                CONTACT: Shannon Murphy (916) 319-2408
July 9, 2009
 
Statement from Speaker Bass on Governor Schwarzenegger’s Proposal
Adding Fourth Furlough Day for California Workers
 
SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) issued the following statement after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed furloughing the state’s workers an additional day:
 
“I thought it was a good sign that the Schwarzenegger Administration had finally released actual numbers for their most recent budget proposals today, but this latest development is a step backward. More furloughs mean more foreclosures. That’s the wrong direction on a day when the federal government has announced there are already more homeless families than ever before.  More furloughs mean a loss of revenue for already hurting local businesses who are struggling to hang onto customers in this recession. More furloughs mean fewer services for the public.  How are state workers supposed to be effective helping root out waste, fraud and abuse for taxpayers if they are being locked out of their workplaces twenty percent of the time?  Clearly, this is a negotiating ploy by the Governor, but it is a particularly cynical one, and needs to be considered as such by the public, the press and the legislature.”