Gibbons to kill four-day work week for state workers

Gov. Jim Gibbons will sign the legislation designed to qualify Nevada for up to $175 million in federal Race to the Top education funds on Thursday.

In addition, he will sign AB6, the legislation implementing the budget cuts and fee increases necessary to balance the state budget on Friday.

But he will veto the bill putting the state on a four-day, 10-hour work week and extending the furlough system that mandates an unpaid day off for state workers each month - the equivalent of a 4.6 percent pay cut. The furlough system drew complaints from the majority of state workers because nearly 2,000 Department of Corrections workers were exempted.

Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick said the governor believes he can have agencies create a more equitable system to meet that pay reduction goal.

"We believe we can accomplish it with executive orders," he said.

Hettrick said a closer examination of the four-10s plan shows it doesn't work well for many agencies and probably wouldn't generate the necessary savings.

"We need flexibility to give us the opportunity to run these things as efficiently as possible," he said.

Hettrick said each agency would be given the task of figuring out how best to meet their budget targets and that, this time, corrections employees won't be exempt.

Gibbons also is expected to sign the bill easing class size and other mandates on school districts and the measure lifting the law mandating minimum annual spending on textbooks, computer equipment and instructional supplies.