State budget cuts mean layoffs for some

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has laid off six employees and will require others to take time off without pay to deal with budget cuts, officials said.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.   State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has laid off six employees and will require others to take time off without pay to deal with budget cuts, officials said. Attorney General Lisa Madigan has asked older employees to consider retiring and others to voluntarily move to part-time schedules to save money. She also is requiring nonunion employees to pay more toward their pension accounts. Statewide officeholders have been forced to act after Gov. Rod Blagojevich cut $1.4 billion from the annual budget legislators sent him because it did not have enough revenue to pay for everything. "The last thing any organization wants to do is lay off employees," Giannoulias spokeswoman Sara Wojcicki said. "It was one of those things that was a really tough decision to make, but the longer you wait, the deeper the cuts could have been." Blagojevich cut $550,000 out of the treasurer’s $5.2 million fiscal 2009 budget for salaries and benefits. The office laid off six of its 190 employees. It is freezing the wages of 130 nonunion workers. Nonunion employees also will have to take one or two days off this fiscal year without pay, depending on how much they make. Madigan’s office already has imposed a hiring freeze and is asking for volunteers to retire or start working part time, spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler said. "We will be working individually with each employee to make that determination," Ziegler said. They have until Aug. 22 to decide. Last week, Secretary of State Jesse White’s office froze hiring and banned overtime pay except in emergencies. The office will ask several unions that represent its 3,800 employees to allow unpaid furlough days. If furloughs don’t save enough money, layoffs might be necessary, officials said. There’s a hiring freeze in the lieutenant governor’s office too, with layoffs and furloughs being considered. Comptroller Dan Hynes is still reviewing how to deal with cuts made to his budget, a spokeswoman said. AP ______ Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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