Gov. Linda Lingle and her top cabinet officials will be meeting this afternoon to discuss the state’s next step now that a judge has halted her plan to furlough state workers.

Lingle has said she would begin laying off state workers if her furlough plans were denied. But Linda Smith, the governor’s chief policy advisor, said this morning that Lingle wants to avoid layoffs as much as possible.
“If there are any areas that we have not yet found that we believe we could perhaps tap, in terms of dollars ... and (wouldn’t) affect health and safety … we would look at those areas first,” Smith said. “And then if we have to look at positions, and people in those positions, that would be our second tier.”
Smith said she believes decisions will be made fairly quickly.
“We haven’t set any firm deadlines but we know that each day has some impact in terms of what we have to do close the budget,” she said.
The administration will be working through the weekend “because we need to respect the fact that the employees need to have some understanding of how they’re going to be personally affected; the public needs to get some understanding of what services they can or cannot expect from the state; and every day we don’t take some action to cut the gap, that means we’re going to have to do something for the balance of the fiscal year,” Smith said.
At a hearing yesterday, Circuit Judge Karl Sakamoto ruled that furloughs needed to be negotiated through collective bargaining and issued a preliminary injunction halting Lingle's plans.
Afterward, union leaders praised Sakamoto’s decision, but acknowledged Hawaii’s financial straits and spoke in conciliatory tones.
“We're obviously pleased with the ruling but at the same time we'll note that the ruling does not solve the problem that we all face,” said Randy Perreira, executive director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
“And we are ready and willing to be bargaining with the governor in an attempt to try to resolve at least our share of the revenue shortfall that the state faces.”
Smith said today that Lingle is willing to sit down with the unions, but only if they have a formal proposal to present.
“We will sit down anyplace, at any time, at any date and listen to their formal proposals to us, because we have made a formal proposal as the employer group, and we are waiting for them to respond to our formal proposal,” Smith said.
The administration is not willing to sit down and “talk story,” Smith said. “Time is of the essence. We really need for them to be serious and responsive to what they’ve put on the table.”
The administration has not ruled out appealing the injunction, Smith said.
Lingle met for several hours with state Attorney General Mark Bennett after the ruling to discuss options.
Bennett said the state wants Sakamoto to expedite a final judgment.
“Once that’s entered, which isn’t going to happen for at least a few days at best, we’re going to consider whether we’re going to take an appeal from that or not,” Bennett said.