Red-Letter Day
Here’s the furlough letter…
Dear Co-Worker:
I apologize that I am only just now communicating with you, but I have held off at the request of state legislators who are working to reach a budget compromise before the fiscal year ends tonight. When midday arrived with still no formal agreement, I informed the General Assembly that in fairness to state employees I could not wait any longer. So, it is with great regret, I write to inform you of the unfortunate possibility that as of midnight, our state government will be forced to shut down and suspend many of its operations.
I have done everything in my power to avoid this outcome. When the legislature failed to pass a budget in April, I called them back into session a week earlier than expected, to give them extra time to reach an agreement. I revised my original January budget proposal to incorporate numerous compromises, including the use of a significant portion of our state reserve funds. Some observers felt that I had gone too far: the Indy Star, on June 7th, even described our concessions as potentially “foolhardy.” The Senate subsequently produced a budget that made even greater compromises, which again, in hopes of a reasonable solution, I agreed to support. Additional concessions were made late yesterday in a final attempt at compromise and early reports suggest that perhaps these last changes have resulted in a deal although no vote has been taken and no budget has yet passed. At my request the Senate also passed a stop-gap measure to keep government open even if a budget still did not pass in time.
Please note I have a greater sense of optimism today that the members of the Indiana General Assembly have agreed to a budget and will vote to pass it before the deadline of midnight tonight than I did yesterday. However, in the event that a budget is not passed by midnight tonight, it is my responsibility to notify you of the potential interruption of all state government activities except those of a public safety, life and death nature. Attached is a memo, detailing the particulars of the shutdown process as a precautionary measure in the event the General Assembly fails to pass a budget.
Though the potential for closure remains a possibility, I still hope for another conclusion. Over the next 12 hours I will join you in watching the General Assembly as they consider and hopefully pass a responsible, 2-year state budget which I can sign. You are delivering the finest state government service Indiana has ever seen and I thank you sincerely for it.
Sincerely,
Now here’s the procedures state workers are supposed to follow…
As Governor Daniels stated in his e-mail, if the General Assembly fails to enact a budget by midnight, most of state government will have to be shut down. Without a budget, the state does not have authorization to spend funds for wages and services. Employees, other than those engaged in emergency operations, will be on furlough. A furlough is an unpaid leave of absence.
Please monitor the news reports tonight and tomorrow morning. Also, an update will be posted on www.in.gov. If a budget has not passed, you should not report to work unless you have received specific instructions to report from your appointing authority.
During a furlough, employees are not paid. There is no option to use vacation, personal or sick leave during the furlough. Employees are not permitted to volunteer their time. The ID/access cards of all nonessential employees will be temporarily deactivated during the furlough.
If a budget has not passed by the time you leave work today, please make the following changes to your voicemail and e-mail to notify the public in the event of a shutdown:
Voicemail – “Thank you for calling (agency). You have reached (Person’s office). Indiana state government offices are currently closed and will remain closed for an indefinite period of time due to the failure of The Indiana General Assembly to pass a budget by June 30. I will be out of the office until a budget is passed.”
E-mail - Turn on the out of office assistant and insert this text: “Indiana state government is closed indefinitely because the Indiana General Assembly failed to pass a budget by June 30. I am out of the office and will not be responding to e-mail while this shutdown is in effect. I will return when a budget is passed.”
If a budget passes and there is no shutdown, please change back to current message immediately Wednesday morning.
Once an appropriations bill passes the General Assembly, we will resume regular operations, and you will be expected to report for your next scheduled shift. It is important that you monitor the news reports and keep informed throughout this period. An update will also be posted on www.in.gov when a budget is approved.
There should be no lapse in your health, vision, dental or life insurance coverage.
It is our hope that the legislature will resolve the funding issue prior to the deadline so that state government can continue to provide services to Hoosiers without interruption.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
[...] Daniels Sends Out Furlough Letters By Doug The Indiana Barrister has the text of furlough letters sent to state employees by Gov. Daniels. The man just can’t help [...]
June 30th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Dear State Representatives,
While you wheel and deal with our monies, ensuring a future of more enslavement and decrying the other party as being unreasonable, we are starting to realize that the Libertarian Party is the only political party of reason.
Please understand, the vast majority of Americans now consider themselves to be a person without a political party. We take our time to read up on the bills (more than even yourself) and cross reference your voting records. We know where you live, go to church, shop and play. Yes, you can say we are the eyes and ears of our community filled by sharks and vipers ready to strike at the feet of us taxpayers and we are armed with a new gun which will revolutionize our ability to ensure you will never win office again.
Say hello to my gun. It's a fine piece of equipment which doesn't fire bullets like a normal gun, but rather, it records video and audio that is easily uploaded to YouTube. This technology is much more powerful than a single crazy man shooting up an office because he knows his government is a bunch of traitors and is quite easy to conceal.
We plan on using this gun for a number of years while watching you. We even plan on making snazzy campaign commercials showing the public where you lie and cheat them out of their hard earned dollars. In time, you will understand that you cannot escape the power of this weapon even as you try to intimidate us by putting your own “guns” in every public place.
Give up, you've lost the battle. Even the media has realized that they are not the only one's wielding this powerful weapon and they oftentimes feel quite consumed that a lowly blog gets more people talking points in our community than their news story which is filled with fluff. Good luck in your escapades for you're going to need it and remember, our video guns will be watching you. ;)
Sincerely,
Mr. Shoot Back (with video only)
Note: This article is written in sarcasm. The writer does not encourage or endorse any violence upon anyone-including our elected idiots.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
The governor should be ashamed of his letter to employees. It is highly misleading. And calling himself a “fellow employee” is reminiscent of the corn-pone motorhome crap. Most importantly: it's not him. When he tries to venture outside his true self, silly stuff happens. His gut political instincts are usually very good. He should've followed them.
If a budget is not passed, the governor is at least one-third responsible: one-third of the blame goes to each house of the General Assembly and the governor. And you could make a solid argument that he's half responsible: one half him, one half the G.A. That's the standard by which Bosma and Bob Garton held Evan Bayh and Frank O'Bannon. Turnabout is fair play. And, to be blunt, it's good government for the governor to be heavily-involved in the solution.
And if I were a state employee, it'd be a cold day in hell before I'd leave those voice and e-mail message postings.
It is the responsibility of the governor to lead in these crises. He's the only fulltime problem-solver on deck. I had altered my opinion of the governor prior to reading this post. I'm going to charitably assume the goofball political hacks who advise him ran the show on this “Memo to Fellow Employees.”
Mitch: Stop listening to Al Hubbard, Mark Miles, Mitch Roob, David Shane and the other neocons. Pay attention to your political core, which is usually pretty sharp: the public blames the legislature and you for this mess.
For Christ's sake can't a leader step forward and bang some heads? This tit-for-tat childishness is embarrassing.
And yeah, Abdul, your Tweet is right: Fry is a loose cannon. And no, it's not funny at this late stage in the game. Espich is equally unfunny and unimpressive. He's been around since at least 1974 and he needs to take his ideas, and his Moe bowl haircut, back north. (an anyone name me ONE political leader who's good after 35 freaking years?)
A pox on all their houses.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
One good leader in the past 35 years…hmmmmm…. Dan Quayle?
haha
My only vote goes to Ron Paul (but he doesn't represent Indiana–directly speaking).
I have to add a little suggestion to your response “Think Again,” I hope that any budget that increases (instead of decreases) the size of government fails. Governor Daniels would be best served to hold his guns and force our G.A. to pass a reasonable bill that reduces our government for he has nothing to worry about losing as he's in his final term as Governor. This will put a lot of pressure upon the politicians from both sides (both Republicans & Democrats) to get off their butts and do what's right. I believe that Governor Daniels may have some insight into the fiscal problems we face and believe me, under Obannon/Kernan, our state was deep in the red due to over-spending. Our current Mayor (Ballard) has very little concept of what being a fiscal conservative is as he's too busy grabbing his ankles to the CIB by wanting to increase our taxes. Mayor Ballard lacks any true leadership or vision for our city and I'm embarrassed that I even helped his campaign.
If our public servants would just learn a little more about basic economics and see what the US government is doing through Quantitative Easing, they would recognize that our economy is not in recovery and that government intervention is creating another bubble instead of doing what's right which is reducing the size of government by at least 50%. Sure it's shocking for people to hear at this radical decrease of government, but it's the only way we're going to survive what the US Government & Federal Reserve has caused, but…they continue to grow government by passing two bailout bills, dumping trillions into the economy, manipulating stock prices, passing a budget that will increase our debt by 4X in one year alone, cap-and-trade legislation, and universal health care. All of this will only set the stage for more chaos until the USA dissolves into a Banana Republic.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Well, Wayne, we'll never become a banana republic, but I realize that comment was partially in jest. But you'd best check your historical facts: No budget under any Indiana governor in history was “in the red.” It's prohibited. You've fallen victim to the partisan air machines.
Now, you and I can disagree, even loudly, about the priorities within that state budget. Different governors have shifted those dramatically. Frankly, it is their right: there are consequences to elections. But no governor has ever pushed or signed a deficit budget.
The closest to it was Otis Bowen. Who is revered among the light readers and those who do not value political consistency. But he passed, at the time, the largest tax increase in Indiana history to fund his programs. And started the Property Tax Replacement Fund, which is the bane of our existence since.
I doubt that Mitch's antics detailed in this Abdul post, contributed to the budget settlement. Regardless, it was sophomoric and not characteristic of many of the leadership qualities I've come to (grudgingly) admire about the governor.
He need to realize, that he is a major domo player in the budget drama. And that the drama lasts 24/7/365, not just now. He didn't properly set the stage for public/private debate, and then tried to shame the legislature into acting properly.
He deserves some credit for trying, but he gets a C-minus for execution. As much as it is a bitter pill, you've got to make the legislature think they're smart or they'll bite you in the ass. And some of those polyester kings have memories longer than the Indiana Toll Road.
June 30th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
It's too bad that so many people in Indiana like “Think Again” get their news from their union rag or people like Jim Shella.
If they would seek the truth they would know that B. Patrick Bauer is the ONE person that stood between Indiana and a budget.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
“Employees are not permitted to volunteer their time.” ???????
.
A person should be allowed to volunteer their time to their state.
.
Great letter, Wayne. God Bless The Internet!
July 1st, 2009 at 12:11 am
TA, I agree with you pretty much. The voice mail/email suggestions sound politicize. I don't think that's the venue for scoring political points.
I don't agree though that the governor is to blame. The Governor in Indiana is a very weak office. He has a simple majority override veto with no line item. Pretty much the legislature calls the shots in the Indiana, not the Gov.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:46 am
Democrats need to realize that they are not the only one's capable of working on a budget. And for them to say that education is taking a hit, then read the editorial in the Star this morning. Funny though is that Democrats think that a shrinking enrollment justifies added funds. I am sorry, but the speaker of the house did not do his job. Why does it always have to be us vs. them.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:46 am
Democrats need to realize that they are not the only one's capable of working on a budget. And for them to say that education is taking a hit, then read the editorial in the Star this morning. Funny though is that Democrats think that a shrinking enrollment justifies added funds. I am sorry, but the speaker of the house did not do his job. Why does it always have to be us vs. them.