Monitor Budget Followup

Lauren Dorgan takes another look at the late night budget deal approved this week, after everyone's had a good night's sleep. She says even budget writers aren't thrilled with the finished product:

"We are all sad," House Finance Committee Chairwoman said Marjorie Smith, a Durham Democrat. "We're sad about the plight that many of our citizens are facing. We're sad about the difficult choices we've had to make."

Several prominent state programs faced cuts. The Land and Community Heritage Investment Program got about three-quarters of its original revenue over two years, or somewhere around $3 million. The Commission on the Status of Women got about a quarter of its old budget, or about $62,000.

State employees are among the most dramatically impacted by the budget.

At the 11th hour, lawmakers trimmed $25 million from the state's personnel budget, to be made up through layoffs or otherwise, and urged Gov. John Lynch to negotiate furloughs with the state unions. (The Legislature can't mandate furloughs.) In real terms, $25 million equates to laying off 750 employees or, lawmakers estimated, furloughing every non-essential employee for 14 days.

Shortly after, lawmakers also voted to suspend "bumping rights" of state employees, a union-prized seniority protection that allows more senior employees who are pink-slipped to "bump" more junior employees out of their jobs. The State Employees Association has already threatened to sue.

Keep in mind that the "deep cuts" approved by the Conference Committee were from the proposed budget, which increases total state spending by $1 billion, and not from current spending.

Here's the story on Bumping Rights, from our running diary of the New Hampshire budget debate:

DeJoie Bumped- As Thursday turns to Friday up and down the Eastern Seaboard; it's still stuck at Noon on Thursday inside the Legislative Office Building. The Senate just rejected an amendment by Rep. John DeJoie that would have forced any layoffs of state employees to go to collective bargaining with the appropriate union. This would have given the State Employees Association or other union representing state workers, an effective veto over any layoffs ever.

DeJoie offered his amendment in response to the removal of "Bumping Rights" in the budget, a provision long sought by Republican governors, and long rejected by the Legislature. John Lynch included repeal of Bumping Rights in his budget address, and it's remained in the budget throughout the long process. With Bumping Rights, a senior state employee facing a layoff could take the job of anyone working under him. That bumped worker could bump someone else lower on the pay scale, and so on until the most junior worker left had no one else to bump.

While this arduous process went on, the State Treasury would keep paying everyone's salary and benefits. This diluted the cost savings of layoffs and ultimately could require that more lower level employees lose their jobs rather than a few highly paid state workers.

The Committee adopted direction this afternoon for the Governor to find an additional $25 million in savings from the state's personnel budget. DeJoie estimated at least 100 state workers would lose their jobs. But budget writers are hopeful that layoffs can be avoided, or at least lessened, through a furlough program under which state workers would take unpaid leave. Since such a furlough program would require the approval of the SEA and other public employee unions, the Legislature can not implement it, but instead rely on the Governor's Office to negotiate furloughs with the unions. Chair Marjorie Smith says the Legislature's inability to pass a furlough program to save money and jobs is frustrating, and urged the Governor's Office to push for such a plan.