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| Okla. Furloughs Planned After Funds Blocked |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/31/2003 |
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A $9 million plan to reduce furloughs for state prison officers stalled in the Oklahoma House Thursday, prompting the head of the state workers union to accuse lawmakers of playing politics. 'These tactics are a display of politics at its worse,'' said Gary Jones, executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. The Department of Corrections had planned to furlough its 4,700 workers for 23 days without pay by June 30 to cut costs to cope with budget shortfalls. The supplemental funds would reduce the number of furlough days to six. Meanwhile, DOC spokesman Jerry Massie said furlough schedules will be posted Friday. They go into effect on Tuesday. 'DOC is already operating with a 23 percent vacancy rate and furloughs could be disastrous,'' Jones said. Corrections workers have said furloughs could jeopardize public safety as well as prison workers and inmates. 'The members who opposed the supplemental are playing games with the lives of the people at DOC and with the lives of Oklahoma's citizens,'' Jones said. The supplemental funding bill, approved on Monday in the Senate, was laid over in the House after members of the Republican minority said it is unconstitutional. Rep. Fred Morgan, R-Oklahoma City, and other GOP House members said the supplemental spending bill provided funds for more than one purpose, a funding mechanism that the state Supreme Court has struck down in the past. In addition to corrections funds, the bill contains emergency funding for the Office of State Finance, the Office of Juvenile Affairs and the Tax Commission 'It's called logrolling,'' said Minority Leader Todd Hiett, R-Kellyville. GOP House members said they could not vote for corrections funds without also voting for other appropriations they may oppose. But Jones said the constitutional issue was not raised in the Senate. 'For a constitutional issue to be raised at this time is horse manure,'' Jones said. 'We're just totally dumbfounded by this whole thing.'' 'Mr. Jones is just wrong,'' Hiett said. 'It's not an appropriate way to fund state government.'' Two other supplemental funding measures, a $7.2 million bill for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and a measure that will provide more than $1 million for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, passed the House without debate. The health care funds will avoid cuts in benefits to 139,000 low-income Medicaid recipients. Republicans said they hope to resolve the constitutional issues and pass the prison funding bill next week. Corrections officials said they expect the money to be approved and still plan to furlough workers for just six days. 'If we know that it's coming, we can still go ahead with a furlough plan,'' Massie said. |
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