Following its approval last week of $415 million in spending reductions, Georgia's legislature gave Gov. Zell Miller the power to use another budget-cutting weapon -- furloughs.
Lawmakers agreed Friday to permit Gov. Miller to send workers home without pay for up to two days a month as long as he first notifies a group of legislative leaders. The governor's furlough authority extends until March 31, 1993.
Approval of the measure came after the House of Representatives and the Senate reached a compromise on guidelines.
Representatives had sought to limit the furloughs to 30 days a year, while Senators had advocated setting up a committee of legislators to approve the layoffs.
Gov. Miller has sought legislative authority to order furlough ever since a state superior court judge, Philip F. Etheridge, ruled last month that he could not impose them without first obtaining lawmakers' consent.
The ruling ended an attempt to send workers home one day a month, a move the governor had said would save the state about $8 million a month.
