OKDHS to furlough roughly 2,300 employees on November 2
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Financial turmoil from the government shutdown is trickling down to state workers, with thousands at risk of being temporarily furloughed.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) confirmed to News 4 that they estimate roughly 2,300 employees will be impacted.
The furloughs will go into effect on November 2, should things in Washington, D.C. remain frozen.
KFOR spoke with an employee, but we're not identifying her due to fear of her losing her job with the agency.
"They just explained that due to the federal government shutdown, that we would need to be furloughed due to the money that the state is not getting from the federal government," She said.
The proposed furloughs are for employees earning an annual base salary of $100,000 or more. Those individuals will have three furlough days per pay period.
Employees with an annual base salary of $50,000 up to $100,000 will have two furlough days per pay period.
Those earning less than $50,000 annually are exempt from the furloughs.
OKDHS sent a statement to News 4 about the decision.
This was an extremely difficult decision, and we recognize the hardship it places on our staff. The furlough plan is structured to maximize limited resources while prioritizing the protection and engagement of frontline employees. Oklahoma Human Services exists to provide critical services to our most vulnerable neighbors. Unfortunately, the ongoing federal shutdown has significantly impacted our ability fulfill that mission without taking actions such as this.
Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Gene Blankenship, Deputy Director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, said, "We just need the folks in D.C. to understand what's happening. That way we can get all this resolved and get things back to some sort of normal."
"This is not the Oklahoma standard. This is not how we do things, and so we need to get this resolved," Blankenship added.
Republican House Majority Leader Mark Lawson also weighed in on the furloughs.
We cannot sustain funding SNAP benefits - which cost over $100 million a month in Oklahoma - for long with only state dollars, leaving Oklahomans in no better position than they are facing with the November 1st deadline. Not to mention funding for our troops, air traffic controllers and other safety programs. Many of our own state employees are facing furloughs. Their salaries depend on federal dollars. We know Oklahomans’ lives are being impacted through no fault of their own. Congressional Democrats should be ashamed for letting millions of jobs, SNAP benefits and other federal programs hang in the balance. They need to do their job and vote to reopen the federal government.
Rep. Mark Lawson, Republican House Majority Leader
Democratic Representative Forrest Bennett provided his input.
The impact of the federal shutdown is hitting Oklahoma where we can least afford it. Our most vulnerable folks—and now, those who serve them through services at DHS—are suffering the consequences. Meanwhile, the choices congressional Democrats have are bad and worse: they can either vote to open a government that refuses to lift a finger to help millions of Americans, and thousands of Oklahomans, who are being priced out of healthcare as we speak—at a time when costs for home insurance are soaring and the cost of groceries and housing continue to rise—or, hope that the president will authorize GOP congressional leaders to negotiate with them. I don’t envy the position they’ve been put in, and I am disappointed in the GOP, which controls both chambers of congress and the White House. But more than anything, I am devastated for our dedicated state workers, who didn’t ask for any of this and in fact go to work every day with the wellbeing of struggling Oklahomans on their mind, and who are losing pay while the folks with the power to fix this continue to receive theirs.
Rep. Forrest Bennett, (D) Oklahoma City
For the employee we spoke with, she's looking at losing around $1,000 per month, as she's paid bi-weekly.
"It's car payments and mortgages, and we all have families and people that we are responsible to. But for lots of employees, it's that we're not going to be there to help do the work for the citizens that we all look after," she said.
OKDHS said the furloughs will persist as long as the government remains shut down.