STATE FREEZE ON EMPLOYEE HIRES SEEMS TO HAVE FLUNKED, EXCEPT ON PAPER

(08/13/2014)

WV's state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss said a state hiring freeze imposed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in December saved the state $33 million in personnel costs over the final six months of the 2013-14 budget year. But other stats from the state's budget office, which tracks state government employment by FTEs (full time equivalents), shows the size of state government hasn't shrunk. In November 2013, the state had 37,976.94 FTEs on the payroll. As of June 2014, it had shrunk by 472 full-time positions, to 37,504.39 FTEs. With the start of the new fiscal year last month, that jumped by 202 full-time positions to 37,706.39 FTEs. Despite the freeze, the size of state government has grown by more than 6 percent from July 2009, adding the equivalent of 1,784 full-time positions in five years, from 35,922.46 FTEs, according to numbers obtained by the Charleston Gazette. The overall dollar savings, presumably, is because the state has borrowed a page from the private sector, replacing full-time employees with benefits with part-time and temporary employees. Researchers say the West Virginia Department of Education has more employees than the State of New York school system. New York has a population of about 20 million. West Virginia has a population just under two million.

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