(NIAGARA FALLS) - Members of the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) will rally outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Niagara Falls this afternoon where Governor David Paterson is scheduled to speak in order to protest his plan to furlough New York State workers.

The governor and several other elected officials are scheduled to attend a reception and dinner sponsored by the New York State Rural Democratic Conference in Niagara Falls, said officials from PEF - New York State's second-largest state-employee Union that represents 58,000 professional, scientific and technical employees.

PEF members will draw attention to the impact that the governor's furlough proposal would have on state services and on state and local economies in communities across New York, Union officials said.  The governor's plan would reduce state employees' pay by $312 million - which amounts to $39 million for each furlough day, which will take more than half a billion dollars out of the state's economy, Union representatives contend.  That loss of revenue has the potential to result in the loss of 17,000 jobs, most of which would come in the private sector.

PEF, meanwhile, has already identified a number of alternative budget solutions and presented them to the governor, including replacing half the private consultants New York annually hires with state employees, which would result in a savings of $656 million over the next three years.