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I have not read the proposal in depth, but it is my understanding that
the state offices will remain open Mon through Friday, but will be
staffed by folks working 4 10 hour shifts. The savings will accrue
to employees - one less day of work per week.<br><br>
In discussions in several states (reported sometime ago in Governing (an
academic journal - I don't have the cite handy), cities and counties have
determined that reducing government services to only 4 days per week
could actually impose additional costs on taxpayers (less flexibility)
and reduce benefits. Bottom line - here is no free lunch.<br><br>
Those interested in this topic should keep an eye out in the academic
accounting journals featuring governmental accounting. This is a
hot area for publishing - a lot of governmental entities are exploring
this strategy. Another hot topic is eliminating duplicate services
(local example - Joint Law Enforcement Center). Lots of opportunity
for cost saving - but it does threaten traditional power
structures.<br><br>
At 06:11 PM 9/11/2008, you wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">
<dl>
<dd>Can someone explain how going to 4 10-hour work days is going to
help<br>
<dd>eliminate or even reduce by any margin whatsoever either the state
budget or<br>
<dd>energy cost / consumption ???<br><br>
<dd>"Gregoire said the plan could help save money by cutting
electric<br>
<dd>consumption and janitorial costs at the offices, and could have
side<br>
<dd>benefits for the environment and traffic congestion by keeping
some<br>
<dd>commuters off the roads"<br><br>
</dl><br>
Washington will not be the first state to try this. Utah has already put
into place<br>
a similar plan. Electricity consumption will be decreased because
computers<br>
can be shut down in office, air conditioning turned off, and janitorial
services<br>
for the 5th work day can be eliminated. Those who commute to work will
save<br>
on not having to pay for motor vehicle fuel or public transportation for
the<br>
5th work day. This all seems very understandable.<br><br>
That all of this might not make a serious difference in the state
budget<br>
as a significant percentage of the total is yet another matter to be
<br>
considered.<br><br>
--Loren Singh<br>
<br><br>
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