What will furloughs mean for state workers? Governor Jim Doyle addressed the issue during a visit to Wausau on Thursday. "In some cases, a state office may just say that the best thing to do is to shut down for a couple of days, or a Friday here and a Friday there," Doyle said. "In some cases where you have fifteen people doing a job . . . they may need to rotate through the furloughs and have eleven people doing the job." Doyle's efforts to close the state's $6.5 million budget shortfall also include layoffs for some 400 state employees, a number he has said could increase to as many as 1000, if union workers don't agree to salary decreases. Doyle ordered state employees to be furloughed for eight days each of the next two years, and says things could be worse. "Look at other states, where the furloughs are much greater and the cuts are much deeper. Look at the private sector. It's not like somebody's getting rich in the economy right now, I think everybody is feeling this pain." As for the public, Doyle says they may need to wait in longer lines, or use the Internet to access state services.
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