The math on Doyle's plan to cut state jobs
8:43 PM 12/07/03
Stan Milam Wisconsin State Journal

From time to time in this column I refer to Gov. Jim Doyle's 2002 campaign promise that if Wisconsin voters elected him to two four-year terms, he would eliminate 11,750 state employee positions by the end of the second term. <

The 11,750 number was not just plucked from thin air. By eliminating that many positions, the state's work force would be reduced to the level it was when former Gov. Tommy Thompson took office in January 1987. <

When he made his campaign promise, Doyle said state government was authorized 67,988 full-time employees. That number grew to 68,092 in the 2001-03 biennium which concluded June 30. <

In the 2003-05 biennial budget Doyle signed, the authorized state work force must be cut to 66,720 by June 30, 2005. Some readers have questioned the figures. <

"Just how much money are we saving?" asked one reader in an e-mail. "And how many workers, as opposed to positions, have left state service?" <

The numbers quoted above (66,720 authorized positions by June 30, 2005, for example) have nothing to do with the number of people working. Authorized positions are calculated as full-time equivalents, or FTE in budget-speak. <

That means three people each working one-third time would equal one FTE. For the record, the state reports 75,895 employees on the state payroll as of Oct. 31, 2003, the most recent information available. <

When Doyle took office, Jan. 11, there were 76,403 employees on the payroll. By that measure, there are 508 fewer state employees since Doyle took office. <

Susan Crawford, the executive assistant to director Karen Timberlake at the Office of State Employment Relations, says the payroll numbers represent only a "snapshot" of the number of employees on the payroll at any given time and do not represent the number of vacant positions that have been eliminated. <

In any event, the reader's questions remain. How many workers have been eliminated from the state's work force? How much money has been saved? <

The preliminary results indicate Doyle may be eliminating positions left and right, but the number of employees remains relatively steady. Crawford reports that the 2003-05 state budget, which began July 1, calls for the elimination of 2,300 jobs. <

So far, 110 state employees have been laid off. The state calls this "separation from state service." <

In addition, 25 employees have retired, 31 have resigned after receiving an "at risk" notice and 61 LTEs and project employees were terminated. In all, 227 employees have left as the result of the mandated reductions in the 2003-05 state budget. <

In addition to the departures, 102 employees were demoted, 139 were transferred and 15 were reassigned as the result of union bumping rights, Crawford said. <

"The biennial state budget signed by Gov. Doyle eliminates 2,300 state positions in state agencies, including the UW System," Crawford said. "The process now is for agencies to reconcile payrolls and position counts with the budget, consistent with union contracts, civil service rules and the governor's direction to minimize layoffs by coordinating the position reduction with retirements and other ordinary attrition. Thus, the downsizing effort is ongoing." <

What cannot be determined is how many of the 2,300 position eliminated are already vacant. Crawford admits there's no accurate way to assess monetary savings when dealing with actual layoffs and eliminating vacant positions. The questions remain. <

What savings is there when a vacant position is eliminated? Has the size of government been reduced by eliminating a vacant positions? <

Crawford says success in terms of downsizing state government will be measured by the number of positions eliminated while minimizing the number of separations from state service and maintaining public services with a reduced workforce. <

"The number of positions to be reduced is a done deal," Crawford said. "The phase we are in now is about managing the workforce and the work in order to carry out the reductions in as orderly (a) manner as possible. That is difficult to quantify." <

Stan Milam, of Capitol News Service, has covered state government since 1983. He can be reached at 608-251-8585; send e-mail to cns@chorus.net. <