Maryland Politics: First furloughs, now state worker layoffs - Your source of news and gossip from the Mason-Dixon Line to the Potomac

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January 21, 2009

First furloughs, now state worker layoffs

Gov. O'Malley's budget antiticpates about 700 state employee layoffs to help balance the budget. That's less than 1 percent of the overall state workforce, but it likely comes as a big hit to employees who largely took an earlier furlough plan pretty well in the belief that it would prevent layoffs. Now, most all state workers are being forced to take unpaid leave only to see some of their colleagues shown the door. Until now, unionized state workers have been pretty solid supporters of O'Malley. Will that change? And was there any alternative? Sen. President Mike Miller says the governor should have passed cuts on to local governments before laying off state workers -- after all, many local government workers have seen better raises in recent years than their state counterparts. Expect a big debate this session over whether anything can be done to save the state employees.

Posted by Andy Green at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

As anyone who has worked for state or federal governments know, there is a tremendous amount of waste going on. There are a number of employees who simply should have been fired but due to state/federal bureaucracy are not.
The perks/benefits are those jobs are generally higher than most private jobs. While some people are under paid, compared to private industry salaries, the difference isn't that much once you factor in the benefits. Also the job security has been close to 100% compared to private employment.
I spent a number of years working at a federal agency and was lucky to work with some very talented people but trying to get rid of the poor performers was almost impossible unless there were some illegal activities going on.
Getting rid of 1% should be trivial and have no impact on services IF done correctly. Of course we know that won't happen.

Posted by: Rich | January 21, 2009 7:45 PM

As the flood of clients seeking or needing assistance continues to grow in the coming weeks, who is going to serve them? State workers in local social services offices are overwhelmed with the volume of people needing and seeking help, and there are fewer workers to serve them. Individuals and families in distress need help. There are fewer of us to provide that help-and we are tired trying to fill in the spaces where workers used to be!

Posted by: hard-working social worker | January 22, 2009 5:26 PM

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About the bloggers

Laura Smitherman has been ensconced in the State House basement, writing about the governor, General Assembly and vagaries of Maryland politics for several years. An erstwhile business reporter, her interest in politics dates to her days in Washington when she covered Congress and national campaigns for another media outlet. She now follows a range of policy debates from slot-machine gambling to universal health care and energy regulation, while keeping an eye on the next election.

Paul West covers Washington for The Baltimore Sun, continuing a tradition that began the month the paper was born, in 1837. He hasn't been in the DC bureau that long--only since Ronald Reagan was president. He's covered Congress, the White House and presidential campaigns as the paper's national political correspondent and Washington bureau chief. He's on the lookout for news of significance to Sun readers at the other end of the B/W Parkway. That includes the activities of the state's congressional delegation and anything else that might shed some light on the inner workings of the nation's capital.

Julie Bykowicz's first days as a political reporter, in January 2009, coincided with Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's indictment and the start of the Maryland General Assembly's 426th legislative session. She focuses on coverage of state agencies, such as social services, juvenile justice and prisons. During the session, she wrote about the death penalty, slots parlors and speed cameras, among other hot topics. Julie began political reporting after more than seven years on The Baltimore Sun's crime desk. She lives in Baltimore and works primarily in Annapolis.

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