Last week, Governor Paterson floated the idea of furloughs where 100,000 state employees would stay at home—and not be paid—for one day until a budget was passed. But now the state's top labor lawyer Terry O'Neil says, "You can tell people to stay home one day but you can't cut their pay." However, O'Neil did say that all state employees' pay can be frozen if the Legislature declares a financial emergency. The Times Union reports that Paterson, who has already withheld a 4% pay hike for the state's major unions, is still considering furloughs, "We haven't made a final decision; we wouldn't rule it out."