Despite being from a different party, the Republican leader in the senate says he thinks Governor Perdue has done a good job so far in dealing with the state's economic situation.

But, Monday night’s state of the state address left Senator Phil Berger wanting more substance from the governor.

Even so, he and other Republican leaders say they are ready to work with Perdue in making sure the state gets through this economic crisis.

And for his part, the Republican leader says if the budget cuts are done right most folks won't even realize the cuts are taking place.

By example, Senator Berger says one area of state savings could come in the classroom.

“We have spent a huge amount of money over the past several years in an effort to lower class size,” he said. “We can increase class size by 2 students per class and save hundreds of millions of dollars.”

He also thinks we ought to look at finding ways to cut the state payroll.

“We should look at the possibility of going 4-day work weeks in some instances,” said Senator Berger.

But, even among Republicans, there's disagreement about how to trim employee expenses.

Rep. Paul Stam, the house minority leader, doesn’t like the idea of a 4-day work week.

“You could do it, but then that cuts services to the people who need it,” he contends. “I would rather see a floating furlough or voluntary furlough by people who are willing to do it.

Rep. Stam suggests state employees “could take 2 days off a month, but not on the same day so that offices don't close.”

But, an official with the Association of State Employees worries that salary cuts for her people would create economic turmoil in their lives.

“It will be hurtful to their family budgets,” said Erica Baldwin. “A lot of state employees already work 2 jobs to make ends meet,” she said.

Baldwin adds, “These are working families that we don't want to see have to use the public services they are providing.”