POLICY AND POLITICS

State of the state workforce: A coming crisis?

“Has anyone asked how many state employees should we have per capita? Not as long as I’ve been here,” said Montford

James Call
Democrat Capitol Reporter
  • Florida spends less per capita on government in the United States
  • Average pay for a State of Florida employee is $38,100
  • There are 26,000 fewer state employees today than there were in 2000

With more cuts looming for state employees, critics are asking how low can Florida go?

People leave the Collins Building the office of the attorney general and department of legal affairs on a December afternoon. The downtown building is one of many that houses state employees who are under budget restrictions enacted by Gov. Scott that will prevent pay increases for another year.

Per capita, Florida spends less and employs fewer people to inspect restaurants, enforce regulations and handle the paperwork produced by a modern society than any other state in the country.

Currently, the State of Florida is negotiating a contract on working conditions for the nearly 14,000 members of AFSCME Local 79 employed by the state in and around Tallahassee. While the number of paid union members is small, the collective bargaining agreement will apply to all 98,000 members of the State Personnel System since Florida is a right-to-work state. The current agreement expires next June 30.

Contract negotiations are proceeding against the backdrop of Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget, which balances a $1-billion tax cut with no pay raises for the state workforce and the elimination of 1,386 positions and a net reduction of 864 jobs.

That state of affairs is self-defeating, critics charge, since it is increasingly difficult for Florida to attract bright young people to public service, especially if the terms are worse than neighboring Alabama, Mississippi and other Southern states.

Less taxes, less government

Scott's proposal follows the small-government recipe for policy-making that the governor has pursued since his election in 2010. Back then, he explained his mix of fewer taxes and less spending by government would make the environment more business friendly.

Workers inspect a downed power line on Thomasville Road following an April storm.

That’s important, Scott explained, because “capital goes where it is welcomed.”  Scott’s assumption is that once it’s here it will create private sector jobs and a more robust economy.

When the state collects fewer dollars to pay for government services, then it must, in Scott’s words, seek more “efficiencies.” To the rank-and-file state employee, that's a message to work harder with fewer colleagues.

Scott has reduced the number of workers in the State Personnel System from 108,700, when he took office in 2011, to 98,100 today, according to the Department of Management Services Annual Workforce Report. In the first five budgets that Scott signed, he persuaded the Legislature to pass a regimen of tax cuts that will “save Florida families $4 billion during his second term.”

The numbers are benchmarks toward Scott’s goal of making Florida first in job creation. Scott counts a million private sector jobs created during his five years of tenure, while reducing the cost of government.

In his latest budget proposal, Scott wants to add 472 jobs at the Department of Corrections and eliminate 718 jobs at the Department of Health, which he says is no longer needed due to "streamlined processes and administrative efficiencies."

“The Florida First budget recommends $48.8 million in savings and a decrease of 1,368 positions as a result of state agencies continued efforts to become more efficient,” Scott said when he released his budget recommendations. He also boasted that Florida has fewer state employees per capita than any state in the Union.

Not everyone sees that as a distinction to be proud of.

'There is a limit'

Senator Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, said he thinks Scott and the Legislature have put the “cart before the horse,” when it comes to cutting taxes and the number of state employees.

“Has anyone asked how many state employees should we have per capita? Not as long as I’ve been here,” said Montford, who was a public school teacher and principal before entering politics more than 30 years ago.

“We haven’t discussed that. We in the Senate and I don’t know of anyone else who has discussed these numbers,” said Montford, who taught middle school math and eventually became the superintendent of Leon County Schools.

Montford represents 11 counties and 25,815 state employees, who patrol highways, maintain state parks, inspect hospitals and restaurants and handle the paperwork produced by a modern mega-state of 20 million residents that attracted 98 million tourists last year.

He described a situation in which state employees are overworked, underpaid and hard to replace because of the working conditions.

“If you want good government then you have to pay for it. If you want government to run efficiently, like a business, then you have to have an adequate number of employees, but we don’t even know how many state employees we should have in Florida,” said Montford.

Scott has promoted Florida’s business-friendly climate in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York and elsewhere in a quest for private-sector jobs. In New York, he told the Post, “We’re in the business of growing opportunities for families, not growing government.”

Scott looks at the dwindling state unemployment numbers, half of what it was when he took office, and sees it as vindication that his prescription for an ailing economy is working. Montford looks at the state of state employees and sees a coming crisis.

A former county commissioner, he says there comes a point at which cutting taxes and employees is not the responsible thing to do. Montford compares it to going on a diet. At some point, he said, you have to stop.

“If you lose any more weight you become anemic. If you lose any more, you would be hurting your health,” said Montford. “We are already at that point with the number of state employees; they have a lot to do with the quality of life in Florida.

“Who wants to come to Florida if the roads and bridges are collapsing? Who wants to come to Florida if the crime rate is high,” asked Montford. “I agree with the governor, philosophically, that works, but there is a limit. There is always a limit; even in losing weight there is a limit to how much weight you should lose.”

'Cut beyond the bone'

While Florida has been on a tax “diet,” it continues to be a binge eater when it comes to population growth.  Since Scott moved into the governor’s mansion, Florida has added about 2 million residents to reach 20 million, while reducing the number of state employees providing government services by 9.7 percent.

“And our state employees have had one raise in eight years,” said Montford. “Forget if that is good or bad. It is the fact. They had one raise, a small raise; and the fact is we then took 3-percent of their salaries as a payroll tax for their retirement.”

AFSCME Florida Executive Director Andy Madtes agrees with Montford. The state's workforce is aging - retiring - and many young people are passing on a career in public service because of the working conditions.

“Quite frankly, state employees are in crisis. There are far fewer co-workers to do the job so they struggle just to keep their heads above water, and they haven’t seen a change in pay in almost a decade,” said Madtes. “ We just want an agreement as good as the one in Alabama. Budgets have been cut beyond the bone without regard to how we provide the services Floridians need and deserve.”

For the State of Alabama, there are 180 full-time positions per 10,000 residents and average pay of $47,998. The average pay for Florida’s state employees is $43,000 and there are 94 full-time workers per 10,000 residents.

David Jacobsen, vice-president of AFSCME’s Florida Retirees Chapter, was a 40-year state employee. It pains him to see things go from bad to worse.

“When I was working we always said we wanted to do better than Mississippi, (194 employees per 10,000 residents and $41,902),” said Jacobsen, who retired during the Bush administration.

But Scott maintains his policies are a model for the nation. He will spend the first week of the 2016 legislative session on a nine-city bus tour promoting his agenda of a billion dollars in  tax cuts and $250 million in business incentives.

“Florida businesses have created more than one million jobs in only five years,” Scott said in announcing his Jan. 13 – 15 tour of the state. “We need to make sure that Florida is first for job creation. That’s why we will work to diversify our economy by cutting $1 billion in taxes and creating the Florida Enterprise Fund this legislative session.”

HOW WE STACK UP: STATE BY STATE 

Here is the state of the State of Florida employees working conditions compared to the other three mega-states of California, New York and Texas.

Florida and Texas appear to use similar formats making comparisons relatively easy. California and New York have larger and more centralized governments providing services handled at the local level elsewhere.

The number of employees exclude higher education.  The ratios are provided by DMS, the average pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which calculates averages differently from the way states do. A Pew Charitable Trust report provided the percent of state budgets number. And information from the State of Texas Fiscal Size Up Report, The Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy, the Empire Center for New York State Policy and U.S. Census is included.  

California

State population                                                              38,802,500

Number of state employees                                                218,000

Ratio workers per 10k residents                                         126

Per capita cost of state employee                                      $64

Per cent of state budget on employees                              11.2%

Average Pay                                                                     $65,400

Annual leave                                                                     21 days

Annual sick leave                                                             12

Holidays                                                                          12

Florida

State population                                                              19,893,297

Number of state employees                                              98,100

Ratio residents to employees                                            108

Per Capita cost of employees                                            $37

Per cent of state budget                                                    10.7

Average Pay                                                                    $43,588

Annual leave                                                                    19.5

Sick leave                                                                          -

Holiday                                                                            10

New York 

State population                                                         19,746,227

Number of state employees                                       150,000

Ratio residents to employees                                     141

Per Capita cost of employees                                     $69

Per cent of state budget                                             9.7

Average pay                                                              $57,000

Annual leave                                                               20

Annual sick leave                                                        13

Holidays                                                                     17

Texas

State Population                                                       26,956,958

Number of state employees                                       147,000

Ratio residents to employees                                     137

Per Capita cost of employees                                     $52

Per cent of state budget                                             12.8

Average pay                                                              $47,100

Annual leave                                                               31.5

Sick Leave                                                                  12

Holidays                                                                       17