State Offices Closing Twice a Month Starting in February

Many state offices will be closed on the first and third Fridays of each month, beginning in February, as a money-saving move to help ease California's growing budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told state agencies Friday.

The announced closures come after Schwarzenegger's executive order last month that state workers must take two unpaid days off each month between February and the end of June 2010.

Mandatory furloughs are part of Schwarzenegger's demands to help correct the state's estimated $40 billion budget deficit over the next year and a half.

State services requiring 24-hour operation, such as prisons and hospitals, will remain open, but employees there will be required take unpaid time off on other days.