Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Rendell and furloughs
A double byline for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
HARRISBURG -- A showdown over Gov. Ed Rendell's threat to furlough more than 24,000 state workers on July 1 is set for Tuesday.
A Republican state senator will grill administration officials about the threatened furloughs of "noncritical" employees if a state budget is not in place by June 30.
During a budget impasse with Republican legislators last year, Rendell furloughed nearly 25,000 state workers on July 9, resulting in a one-day closure of state parks, driver's license centers and state environmental permitting services.
That move contributed to a budget agreement signed into law seven days later. Critics called the furloughs unnecessary and said Rendell used them as leverage to get a state spending plan more to his liking.
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Christopher Wink is the marketing director of Back on My Feet, a homeless advocacy nonprofit based in Center City Philadelphia. A resident of the Fishtown neighborhood, I am also co-founder of Technically Philly, a news site that covers technology and innovation for the region, and Web editor and business manager for NEast Philly, a hyperlocal news site for Northeast Philadelphia. I also maintain a freelance writing and editing portfolio. On this site, I share clips and write about the future of news, social media and entrepreneurship. The opinions posted here, of course, are no one's but my own, and so should not reflect my employer.
