The Hollister branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles on
Sally Street will be closed for a third straight Friday this week
after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s imposition of furloughs on
roughly 150,000 workers pending passage of the state budget.
The Hollister branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles on Sally Street will be closed for a third straight Friday this week after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s imposition of furloughs on roughly 150,000 workers pending passage of the state budget.
The furloughs were re-instituted in California’s 168 DMV offices and a variety of other state agencies in mid-August after the California Supreme Court stopped a lower court’s ruling blocking them. They will be in effect until at least Sept. 8, when another Supreme Court hearing is scheduled.
Closures of DMV offices on some Fridays have been standard since early last year, with the exception of a brief reprieve in July.
They were closed two Fridays a month from February through May of 2009, and three Fridays a month thereafter. The offices returned to their normal schedule in July, but with the state budget a month late, the governor reinstituted the furloughs in an executive order issued July 28.
DMV spokesman Mike Mirando said offices had been scheduled to close Aug. 13 as well, but that was stalled by the court action. Employees were asked to take a floating furlough day some time in August instead.
Officials contend that similar furloughs last year saved the state $2 billion and that new, unpaid days off could add another $147 million per month to the savings.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday. MCT wire service contributed to this report.
