The State Worker: Public even notice 20% cut in work time?

Published online on Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Welcome to California government, 80 percent-style.

This is the first of 12 weeks in a row that the state will shut down every Friday. Between unpaid furlough days and paid holidays off, most California civil servants won't work a five-day week again until Jan. 29.

But how much will the public notice – or care?

We've had nine months to adjust to a part-time state government. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger started furloughing workers two days per month in February and upped it to three "Furlough Fridays" in July.

Meanwhile, the public's most acute fiscal pain is closer to home. "Cities, counties, schools – that's where Californians are noticing cutbacks," said Mark Baldassare of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, which frequently polls public attitudes toward government.

And, Baldassare said, the lengthy economic recession in California has lowered expectations.

"So many people are personally experiencing work reductions and layoffs that, unfortunately, cutbacks are something people are accustomed to. They're numb to it," he said.

Much of what state government does goes unseen. Aside from things like licensing through the Department of Motor Vehicles, state Transportation Department "cone zone" slowdowns or filing taxes, most of us don't see the vast bureaucracy.

In that sense, state government is like umpires in the World Series. You don't notice until there's a blown call at first base. Nobody talks about all the right calls.

Even when government's failings are exposed, it can be difficult for the public to connect cause with effect.

For example, the average walk-in wait time at DMV in the last year has gone from 27 minutes to 45 minutes, according to a new report by the Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes.

DMV, which has improved considerably in recent years, blames furloughs for a "degradation of service in nearly all areas of operation," according to the report.

But how many people really notice the difference? How many connect furloughs to their personal inconvenience? How many just shrug and figure that's business as usual at the DMV?

The public's low expectation of government and poor understanding of what it does makes it harder to successfully argue state work is vital.

And that makes it tougher to convince the public that government at 80 percent hurts anybody other than state employees.