Oregon Insurance Division to Close for Six Furlough Days
June 20, 2010 by Sean P. Carr
June 18, 2010 | BestWire
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June 17, 2010 Thursday 04:49 PM EST
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Oregon Insurance Division to Close for Six Furlough Days
Sean P Carr
SALEM, Ore.
The Oregon Division of Insurance will be closed June 18 and five other Fridays in the next 12 months as it absorbs its share of budget cuts mandated throughout state government.
Oregon is part-way through a budget cycle of sharply reduced state revenues. Staff at the insurance division, part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, are required to take unpaid furlough days when the division is closed.
The division has sought to provide plenty of advance notice of the closings and has worked with the industry to minimize disruptions, spokeswoman Cheryl Martinis said. “It’s probably more inconvenient than anything,” she said.
Online services that are regularly available 24 hours a day, seven days a week will continue to operate on furlough days.
The closings are unfortunate, but Oregon is not alone among states that have had to make tough choices in the current budget climate, said Nicole Mahrt, director of public affairs, Western region, for the American Insurance Association. “We’re sure that the staff will do everything they can to ensure service,” she said.
The remaining scheduled furlough days are Aug. 20, Sept. 17 and Nov. 26, 2010, as well as March 18 and May 20 of 2011.
(By Sean P. Carr, Washington Correspondent: sean.carr@ambest.com)
