A great idea!

Although the needless bureucratic closure of Atlantic City’s casinos has come and gone, some legislators want to help out the real victims–the workers who had a few days of involuntary unpaid vacation. From the AP:

State workers who got unexpected holidays last week because of New Jersey’s government shutdown will be paid anyway. Now Shore-area lawmakers are pushing for the state to reimburse private employers or give them tax credits so they, too, can pay workers for the lost time.

“Union workers on state-funded construction projects aren’t receiving any breaks. Tens of thousands of casino workers and racetrack employees aren’t receiving any breaks,” said Assemblyman Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic), a former Atlantic City mayor. “We need to establish a certification process to ensure that those who were genuinely impacted by this shutdown get a fair shake on whatever is owed to them, too.”

Whelan is drafting a bill, expected to be introduced this month, that would require the state to help workers who don’t draw paychecks directly from the state but lost wages as a result of the six-day shutdown.

Casino owners estimate that 36,000 employees lost $9 million in wages when the gambling halls had to close for three of the days because no state inspectors were on the job.

Unclear are how much Whelan’s bill would cost the state, how the money would be provided, and which state agency would be responsible for evaluating worker claims.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 07/13/2006 | Legislators urge compensation for idled private-sector workers

This shouldn’t be so hard for hourly and salaried workers, but calculating tip income is probably going to be a nightmare. If this ever happens–I suspect it’s just more political posturing.

As far as paying for it, the Guv seems to have money to burn (at least when it comes to other people’s money). But for a guy who spent $63 million on his Senate campaign, $9 million should be pocket change.

At the very least, workers should remember their “vacations” when election time rolls around.