General Assembly to talk furloughs today

Tuesday in Harrisburg will help decide whether the threat of furloughs will hang over budget negotiations.

State Sen. Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin County) will hold a hearing of the Senate State Government Committee to discuss Gov. Ed Rendell's recent statements that he would be forced to temporarily lay off tens of thousands of state workers earlier this year than last. The committee, which Piccola chairs, will question Naomi Wyatt, secretary of the Office of Administration.

The state House will take more direct action. State Rep. Jerry Nailor (R-Cumberland County) plans to call for a motion to discharge Senate Bill 1122, which would prevent the governor from furloughing state employees on July 1 because they would all be classified as essential.

The bill, which the Senate passed unanimously in February, is sitting in the House Appropriations Committee. Dwight Evans (D- Philadelphia), chairman of the committee, has tabled it because it doesn't create a "funding mechanism for paying them," according to spokeswoman Johnna Pro.

Nailor is trying to take the decision out of his hands with his first discharge motion in 20 years of office.

"Some people are opposed to this motion -- usually that's leadership," Nailor said. "(The bill) is just common sense."

Nailor said he received 50 co-sponsors, Democrat included, when he brought it up last week. It is likely to gain support from state House members whose districts, like Nailor's, include many state employees.

Most Capitol observers are probably feeling deja vu. Tense negotiations, energy and health care reform topping the agenda and the possibility of furloughs were all ingredients in last year's negotiations, which lasted until July 15 and included a one-day furlough.

The war of words between the two sides has already begun.

"The Appropriations Committee has become a graveyard of good ideas aimed at helping Pennsylvania's taxpayers," said Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Republicans.

When asked if he thought state workers were being used as pawns by Rendell, Miskin replied:  "Chaos and crisis is the governor's middle name. At every turn, on every issue he and his staff seek to create a crisis, often through fear, in order to ram through his often ill-conceived ideas."

Democrats say the law forbids the governor from paying the state workers.

"If there's not a budget, we cannot legally spend the money," Pro said.

Chuck Ardo, Rendell spokesman, said the governor would veto any bill that is unconstitutional.

If workers are furloughed, it's not the governor's fault, Ardo said.

"The House Republicans have known that the fiscal year ends on June 30th and the state's spending authority expires at that time," he said. "If there is chaos, it is not because the governor has an obligation to follow the law, it is because the legislature has not produced a budget in a timely manner."