Pawlenty's budget would shed 1,100 state jobs

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's budget proposal would cut the equivalent of more than 1,100 full-time state employees by mid-2011, an Associated Press analysis has found.

The projections are detailed in hundreds of pages of agency budget overviews posted by Minnesota Management and Budget. They can't be translated directly into job cuts because the figures include overtime, on-call pay and part-time, seasonal and temporary work.

Even so, the figures show a trend toward lighter payrolls at Minnesota's largest single employer — state government — as unemployment swells. The budget shows the biggest staffing reductions in the state courts, Human Services Department and Revenue Department.

The Republican governor's budget is only a blueprint, and months of negotiations with the Democrats who control the Legislature lie ahead. But their options are limited by a $4.8 billion deficit that will likely get bigger before they're done, and no one has ruled out state layoffs.

"Any cut means fewer people — there's just no way around that," said John Kostouros, spokesman for the state court system.

The Minnesota Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and trial courts together would lose about 408 full-time positions. Kostouros said the courts faced staff cuts even without Pawlenty's proposed 5 percent funding cut, to keep up with health insurance, pensions and contractual raises.

Not included in the job projections are two major government employers — the University of Minnesota or the Minnesota State Universities and Colleges system. Layoffs are a prospect at both higher education systems as they face big cuts in state aid under Pawlenty's budget.

The rest of state government — from the largest agencies to the smallest boards and commissions — pays the equivalent of nearly 37,000 full-time workers. Some agencies are in line for more staffing, including the Department of Corrections. Management and Budget would get a temporary infusion of workers to implement a new state accounting system.

Historical figures from Management and Budget show a dropoff in state employment by about 1,100 full-time jobs over three years from 2002 to 2004. But the state worker rolls added enough hours for more than 750 full-time workers in the current budget year, which runs through June.

Pawlenty is pushing for a wage freeze but hasn't said how many jobs it might save.

"These challenging times are going to require some layoffs, but we'll try to minimize them through a wage freeze," said Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung.

Management and Budget spokesman Curt Yoakum said it's impossible to say how many jobs might be cut under Pawlenty's budget proposal.

"Layoff are usually a last resort," Yoakum said in an e-mail. "Most agencies use attrition to reduce their staff levels. They may also reduce overtime, change full-time positions to part-time, utilize salary savings leaves, or use other strategies to mitigate the impact on employees."

AFSCME Council 5 director Eliot Seide said his union is still analyzing the budget and isn't predicting job losses yet — but he's concerned.

"Governor Pawlenty shouldn't be piling on layoffs at a time when families hurt by the recession need our vital public services to survive," Seide said.

The Human Services Department — the state agency with the most employees — is projected to lose 308 full-time positions under the budget proposal. But Commissioner Cal Ludeman said the budget isn't set yet, and about three times as many workers leave voluntarily each year. His department eliminated more than 400 positions in the last year through attrition alone.

Depending on the final budget, Ludeman said layoffs might be needed in public health program administration, if coverage levels are cut. He said the department might find other ways to save jobs, such as the wage freeze sought by Pawlenty.

"We are already on a trajectory for fewer people at this department," Ludeman said.

The governor's budget recommendations show staffing reductions for agencies ranging from the Health Department to the Veterans Affairs Department.

At the Minnesota Historical Society — projected to lose the payroll to cover more than 50 full-time positions — spokeswoman Lory Sutton said leaders are looking at reduced hours at 26 museums and historic sites but won't settle on specifics until the budget debate has unfolded.

"It's painful and it's not going to be easy," Sutton said.

The future is also unclear for 75 employees of the Perpich Center for Arts Education and 21 who work for the Minnesota Humanities Commission. Pawlenty proposed turning the arts center into a charter school and eliminating state funding for the commission, which also gets money from other sources.