State employees can work on New Year's Eve, according to a press release just in from the Governor's office;
the Dec. 31 furlough day will be shifted to Friday, March 5
, 2010. The furloughs, which apply to 17,000 state employees, "will save another $8.1 million – on top of the $8.3 million that will be saved by the elimination of several state exempt positions," the release states.
The 4,100 employees
exempt from furloughs
include direct patient care in hospitals and health facilities—and while I'm not saying hospitals work better without receptionists, another exciting chapter of the DOH hiring-during-hiring-freeze story has unfolded.
Last week,
sent to Gary Chabot, an analyst with the Legislative Finance Committee,
alleging practices of nepotism and the moving of DOH funds "in a questionable manner."
Today, Chabot sent along DOH Secretary Alfredo Vigil's response, sent to Vigil on Wednesday, Nov 25—one day after Chabot alerted Vigil to the complaint. (The e-mail's after the jump.)
If only all investigations could be done in a day!
Santa Fe Reporter