Gov: 1,000 layoffs poss. in 30 days

From Tom Barnes:

HARRISBURG -- The fuse on a 30-day "time bomb'' for state employees has been lit.
Gov. Ed Rendell has sent notification to the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, the State Employeees International Union and other groups representing the state's 77,000 workers, advising them that some employees, perhaps as many as 1,000, will be laid off within the next 30 days, under terms of the just-enacted state budget for fiscal 2010-11.

Mr. Rendell originally proposed spending $29 billion for the fiscal year that began July 1, but that would have required tax increases, so legislators pared it down to $28 billion and made reductions in spending for almost all departments, all except education, prisons and welfare.

One agency that will likely be hit is the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees state parks and forests. It will soon tell the governor's office how it will deal with reductions in appropriations, and there could be some state parks closed or have their hours of operation reduced. Rendell aide Gary Tuma said today it's too soon to speculate about that.