Amid a worsening budget crisis, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a 5-cent cut in state workers' salaries, a newspaper report said on Friday, according to Xinhua.
The governor's proposed salary reduction would affect 235,000 state workers who already are taking mandatory unpaid furloughs to help the state grapple with a projected budget gap of 24.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Combined with the furloughs, ordered by Schwarzenegger earlier this year, the new proposed salary cuts would push many state employees' wages down by about 15 percent, saving the state 470 million dollars, said the paper.
"Everyone in the state is cutting back right now -- businesses, families," said Matt David, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger. "The governor feels it's very important that state workers do the same thing."
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger is considering to close 220 California state parks that draw nearly 80 millions of visitors every year.
Schwarzenegger this week recommended eliminating 70 million dollars in parks spending through June 30, 2010. An additional 143. 4 million dollars would be saved in the following fiscal year by keeping the parks closed.
Among the parks that could be closed are Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay, Will Rogers' Southern California ranch and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which boasts the world's tallest tree that tops 370 feet, and even the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, according to the Department of State Parks.
The department said a 70-million-dollar cut would leave it with enough money to run just 59 of California's 279 state parks.
California spends roughly 400 million dollars a year running 279 state parks and beaches.
The spending cut would lead to the layoffs of at least 2,000 park rangers, biologists, lifeguards, interpreters, architects and maintenance workers, according to the department.
The layoffs would be in addition to 5,000 state positions the governor has already recommended cutting.
The proposal drew criticism from conservationists and some Democrats in the legislature, who say closing the parks would hurt the state's economy even more.
"State parks draw tourism to California," State Parks Foundation President Elizabeth Goldstein said. "This proposal makes the budget situation worse."
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