Furloughs and Fiscal Reform
MAYBE IT'S premature to clear space on Isiah Leggett's desk for a sign that reads, "The buck stops here." But Montgomery County's chief executive has taken a long-overdue shot across the bow at the county's muscular unions. Mr. Leggett announced that county employees would take a limited number of furlough days, or unpaid leaves of absence, to help balance the $4.3 billion county budget for the current fiscal year. Furloughs are a stopgap measure, not a long-term remedy. But by calling for furloughs and by indicating that more significant cuts to compensation are in the offing, Mr. Leggett rightly acknowledged that stagnant county tax revenue isn't going to rebound anytime soon. He also sent a powerful message to the unions: The county's purse strings are tightening, and the outsized pay increases unions have come to expect are on the way out.