Some didn’t believe us earlier this year when we publicly said that
the recession has taken a real toll on the size of state government –
and its ability to provide services to the public.Both The Olympian and the Seattle Times report that the number of
state employees has shrunk almost 10 percent (some 6,409 positions in
General Government alone) since the start of the recession in 2008. The
biggest cuts are in DSHS and Corrections.
While some legislative and administration budget-cutters may
rejoice, the media reports also say the cuts hurt overall economic
recovery, workload has increased and safety is compromised. And the cuts
are a drag on retaining good state employees. The Olympian reports the
percentage of state employees retiring or resigning (to find
higher-paying jobs elsewhere) is the highest it’s been in five years.
What’s ominous – more is on the way. The governor has directed her
agencies to prepare for additional cuts of up to $1.7 billion. The
governor’s budget director says the 6,400-plus job cuts are only about
two-thirds of total expected job cuts.
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