By Ben Fractenberg
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A federal judge is expected to reach a decision within the next couple of days about Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to furlough 100,000 state workers once a week, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
Federal Judge Lawrence Kahn of U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan issued an injunction on May 12th saying the furloughs would cause “irreparable harm.” The judge will now decide whether Paterson’s plan is a budgetary necessity.
If approved, the furloughs would affect roughly half of state workers, reducing their pay by nearly 20 percent. The furloughs are expected to save the state $30 million a week.
The state has still not balanced it's budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year and is facing a $9.2 billion deficit.
Paterson has been trying to convince the state's unions to forgo a scheduled 4 percent pay raise for state workers, but union leaders will not agree to the concession.
A ruling is expected tomorrow or Friday.
