New furlough bill aims for 10 days without pay

Senate Democrats proposed a revamped furlough bill Monday with fewer unpaid days off and an effort to help lower paid state employees avoid total loss of earnings.

Sen. Margarita Prentice, D-Renton, dropped the 39-page 'striker' on Senate Bill 6503. You can read it all here.

It calls for 10 furlough days. That is down from 13 in the version passed by the Senate on Jan. 22 (and later died in the House.) When Prentice first introduced this bill she wanted 16 voluntary layoff days.

Another new feature in the amended bill is workers making $2,500 a month or less - $30,000 annually - can tap unused vacation or shared leave in lieu of going without pay.

It does appear this bill calls for negotiations with unions to have workers either take the unpaid days off or use shared leave. And, from what it looks like, the loss of pay from furlough won't count against a worker when their salary is averaged for the purpose of retirement benefits

This bill is necessary to implement the budget. While it did die in the House, the advent of the special session allows it to be relaunched.

Financially, the Senate hoped to save as much as $69 million. There is no fiscal note yet for the newest version.

Don't expect hearings as it should go straight to the floor for a vote.