Treasurer John Kennedy and his legislative ally sold the Legislature’s chief finance committee Monday on a bill that would almost immediately downsize the state employee pool. As a result, a far-reaching proposal to reduce the number of executive branch employees by 5,000 positions over a three-year period is now pending action on the House floor. Rep. Dee Richard, a Thibodaux independent, told the House Appropriations Committee that it’s a “step in the right direction to make some changes on spending.” His House Bill 306 details Kennedy’s “State Government Employment Reduction Program,” which first surfaced as a byproduct of the now defunct Commission on Streamlining Government. Gov. Bobby Jindal contends jobs related to hospitals, corrections and veterans’ affairs would be at risk if the program were implemented. Kennedy told the committee that labor costs, including benefits, usually run the state about $8 billion annually. “It’s easily our largest cost in state government,” Kennedy says. “No state can get control of its spending without addressing its cost of labor.” Research data from the Legislative Fiscal Office shows that the average salary and benefit cost for an unclassified position is $65,247 and for a classified position is $54,937. Overall, 66% of the jobs in the executive branch are classified. Savings from the bill could be as much as $500 million a year. Under the program, the commissioner of administration would have until Sept. 15, 2011, to develop and implement a plan for the first year of operations. But Kennedy has suggested that the annual goals could be accomplished by simply not filling one-third of the vacancies that usually arise each year in state government. —Jeremy Alford
Today’s poll question: Do you agree with John Kennedy’s plan to reduce the number of state workers by 5,000 over the next three years?
