Governor to veto bill requiring state offices be closed on Friday

By Cy Ryan

Monday, March 8, 2010 | 4:13 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons is going to veto a bill that would require state workers to put in 10-hour days and for state offices to be closed on Friday.

Daniel Burns, communications director for Gibbons, said the governor wants to give directors of agencies the flexibility to decide their hours and whether their offices should be closed one day a week.

Burns said Senate Bill 3 created difficulty and confusion, but he said 85 percent of state workers surveyed favored four 10-hour days each week.

This will be the governor’s first veto of the special session. The bill passed the Senate 19-2 and the Assembly 41-1.

The bill authorized school districts to require employees to take unpaid furlough leave unless the requirement would conflict with collective bargaining.

In 2009, the Legislature passed a bill to require state workers to take a one-day-a-month furlough, or a pay cut of 4.6 percent. A study showed the law wasn't being applied evenly, with some workers escaping both the furlough and the pay reduction.

The bill maintained the requirement for a one-day furlough or a 4.6 percent pay reduction.