State workforce would see more cuts under House budget

The state-agency workforce would continue to shrink under the House of Representatives proposed spending plan for the 2016 fiscal year, though not as much as Gov. Rick Scott has recommended.

But under the Senate's proposed budget, the workforce would actually grow by roughly several dozen positions.

Scott, as part of his proposed $77-billion budget, has recommended cutting 1,353 full-time equivalent positions and one-time funding of 28 positions. His budget would add 363 positions, for a net decrease of 1,018 FTEs. If Scott has his way, the number of state-agency positions would drop from 114,502 to 113,484, a reduction of less than 0.90 percent.

Under the House's $76.2-billion budget, which passed Wednesday out of the House Appropriations Committee, state agencies would have 851 fewer positions, a reduction of 0.70 percent. The Senate, meanwhile, has proposed adding 35 positions as part of its proposed $80.4-billion budget.

More than a quarter of the positions Scott wants to eliminate are filled, though the Governor's Office has said the "vast majority" of the positions will be vacant by July 1.

Jeanette Wynn, president of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council 79, said continued cuts to the workforce have led to poor working conditions in prisons and other state facilities and major problems, including the deaths of inmates and children in state custody.

"When they're talking about already-vacant positions, there were warm bodies in those positions at some time," she said. "It does not leave adequate staffing. It puts an extra workload on the people ... and then it ends up in incidents that cause the employee to lose their job."

But House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, said the cuts won't affect the state workforce's ability to carry out its mission.

"I think we've consistently over the years cut vacant positions, and this year is no different from any other," he said. "We identify those, we talk to the agencies to see if those are positions that they need. And they've become more efficient, more effective with the dollars they have been given, so we'll continue to run an efficient government, and our budget reflects that."

Florida's state-agency workforce is the smallest and the least expensive per capita in the nation. Last fiscal year, the state had 108 state employees per 10,000 residents; the national average was 211, according to the most recent state workforce report. The cost of the state workforce was $37 a month for each Floridian; the national average was $76. The number of state-agency workers dropped from 105,031 in mid-2010 to 89,686 as of June 30.

Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the number of state employees should be ticking up, not down, given that Florida added a quarter-million new residents over the past year or so.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," he said. "If you look at it strictly from a business standpoint, it makes sense ... to cautiously and conservatively grow the number of state employees. More people in Florida means more government services, which means more state employees."

The decline in state jobs hasn't gone unnoticed by residents of Leon County, which is home to more than 19,000 state employees making up nearly 22 percent of the state workforce.

Rob Rushin, a Tallahassee writer, blogger and musician, said the job cuts are part of an effort to privatize public jobs and de-fund institutions, which he said would result in substandard education, health care and environmental protection.

"The mission to make Florida a Third World hellscape continues apace," he said.

Scott's "Keep Florida Working" budget FAQ says he asked state agencies to trim their payroll by 5 percent through "increased efficiencies and improved management" and that operational and administrative improvements would save the state $267 million.

Under Scott's plan, most of the cuts would come from the Department of Health, which would lose 758 positions, including 215 filled slots. DOH would lose even more positions under the House plan, which calls for a reduction of 813 positions, most of which are vacant. Under the Senate's budget, DOH staffing would tick up slightly by about three FTEs.

Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, said the House proposal would eliminate nearly 200 filled positions, potentially including several dozen housekeeping and janitorial workers, whose jobs could become privatized.

"Some of the vacant positions — it's tough for us to fight for," he said. "But definitely those that are filled, we're going to fight like hell to make sure we keep those from being eliminated."