Rhode Island Plans 12 Days of Government Shutdowns

Rhode Island is taking a page from Chicago's handbook. Gov. Don Carcieri announced Monday that the state will schedule 12 days of government shutdowns, becoming the latest in a string of state and local jurisdictions to scale back during the recession. The closings will occur between the first week of September this year and July 2010. Some services -- including the police -- will continue to operate.

"There are going to be inconveniences for the public, and there are going to be sacrifices, as I said, for state employees," Carcieri told the AP. Though he said the shutdowns are "unavoidable if the state is to live within its budget," the Republican governor also indicated that, if union leaders can come up with another plan that also saves $22 million, he would be willing to backtrack.

Rhode Island is one of many state and local governments struggling with the economic downturn -- Chicago recently announced a shutdown to cover a $500 million budget shortfall, and California faced a financial crisis earlier this year that required painful cutbacks. Still, with stimulus funds pouring into local governments, figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicate that across-the-board spending by state and local governments has actually risen during the recession.

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