Some of the savings will occur through the elimination of vacant jobs that are paid for in the existing $11.5 billion state budget, Lynch told reporters.Many of those vacancies were already included in the budget, which extended the partial hiring freeze imposed by Lynch in February 2008.
The three-term Democratic chief executive said some employees at all levels of authority will be let go, but whole agencies and specific jobs solely paid for with federal or other nonstate dollars would be exempt from the layoff.
Shira Schoenberg gets reaction from the head of the State Employees Association in the Monitor.
"Services are going to go unprovided," said SEA President Gary Smith. "Kids are going to go unprotected. Elderly are going to freeze. And we're going to be able to say this didn't have to happen. . . . This happened because the governor didn't recognize the need and didn't give the resources to it."In the Union Leader, Tom Fahey reports that the cuts will come from departments funded with state General Fund dollars.
Smith said the union is considering whether it has any legal avenue to challenge the layoffs.
He added that after the vote, Lynch had little choice.
"(Lynch) built his own political box," Smith said. "He had nowhere to go but to show that he's tough and can follow through on his threat."
Lynch would not specify what government agencies will be hit. Only jobs that will save the state money will be cut, he said.
That means layoffs are unlikely at the Department of Employment Security, which is federally funded. Banking, Insurance and the Public Utilities Commission appear safe, too, since they run on fees from companies they regulate.
Many Safety and Transportation jobs rely on highway funds, not general tax revenues. Safety Commissioner John Barthelmes told his workers in a memo yesterday "there will be no layoffs" in his department.
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