Flag of Maryland(wikipedia.org)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to order executive-branch state employees to take off at least two days at the end of the year to save about $34 million as the state struggles to resolve a budget shortfall amid a crippled economy.

The number of furlough days would vary depending on salaries, with the highest-paid workers taking up to five days off in a plan that also includes the governor.

The plan would affect about 67,000 of the state’s 80,000 employees. Workers in emergency health and public safety positions would stay on the job. Also, the proposal does not include employees in the legislative and judicial branches of state government, which O’Malley does not control.

“This proposal will save $34 million and is a critical part of any resolution to the (fiscal year) 2009 budget shortfall,” Maryland Budget and Management Secretary T. Eloise Foster wrote in a letter Wednesday to Jimmy Dulay, president of the State Law Enforcement Officers Labor Alliance.

O’Malley met last week with state union leaders to discuss the plan.

Administration officials continued to work Wednesday with union representatives on the plan, and O’Malley must issue an executive order for it to go forward.

Patrick Moran, director of AFSCME Maryland, said in a statement that furloughs would challenge important state services, such as protecting children from abuse and conducting “countless other jobs that protect the quality of life in Maryland.”

“AFSCME and other unions representing state employees are reviewing proposals by the administration and will be engaging in negotiations regarding the nature, timing and details of any furlough plan,” Moran said. The American Federal of State County and Municipal Employees represents about 30,000 state government workers in Maryland.

Foster asked Dulay to respond quickly to the state’s plan.

“The administration crafted this proposal to reflect our discussions at last week’s meeting,” she wrote. “In order to prepare administratively for these payroll changes, we must allow for as much lead time as possible. In that spirit, we ask that you please provide us with any feedback or concerns by the end of the week.”

It would be the first time a Maryland governor has ordered furloughs since former Democratic Gov. William Donald Schaefer used them in the early 1990s to address another budget crisis.

State budget officials say furloughs are again needed as they plan next month to revise the September revenue estimates downward by at least $200 million for the current fiscal year.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has also proposed furloughs for state employees and individual state agencies in Idaho and South Carolina have ordered them for their workers.

Under the Maryland plan, employees who make less than $40,000 a year would be off for two days — the day after Christmas and the day after New Year’s Day. For them, the salary loss would be eased by spreading it out over the next seven months.

Employees who make more than $40,000 a year would take an additional two furlough days of their choosing, for a total of four. Employees who make more than $60,000 would take three more days, for a total of five. Salary loss for those who earn more than $40,000 would occur in the pay period the days are taken.

Rick Abbruzzese, an O’Malley spokesman, said some details of the plan could be modified.

“We are moving forward with furloughs, but are still in the process of working with labor leaders to determine exactly how they will be applied and how they will impact state employees,” he said.

The revised revenue estimates will create a budget deficit of about $150 million, Foster said.

The rest of the money will be made up in budget cuts by the Board of Public Works, either this month or next month.

“They’ll have to be done as quickly as we can,” O’Malley told reporters, referring to the cuts, shortly before details of the furlough plan were disclosed.

Maryland already has reduced spending by roughly $2.2 billion since O’Malley took office in January 2007, making it tough to cut the budget further.

The Board of Public Works — made up of O’Malley, Democratic Comptroller Peter Franchot and Democratic Treasurer Nancy Kopp — cut nearly $300 million in October from the state’s general fund, an amount that added up to about $348.7 million when federal and special funds cuts were added as a result.

Maryland is facing a budget deficit of at least $1 billion for the next several years.