Reducing employee load could solve 
Washington state budget problem

commentary by Jackie Juntti

If Locke reduced the employee load he has added this could all be wrapped
up in two days.  That is just a start on what should be done.  Who is the
*snail* in this situation???  Not Clyde Ballard and Company.

Do not forget these points made by Tom McCabe:

In his 53 months in office, Governor Locke hired 8,000 more state
bureaucrats not including teachers or education employees.  The 8,000 new
bureaucrats work at state agencies like the Departments of Ecology, Labor
and Industries, and Social and Health Services.
Locke has the distinction of hiring state government's 100,000th worker.
  

When Locke took over, Washington had 93,000 workers.  Today, it's 101,000,
making state government itself the state's top employer.  (And you thought
the state's largest employer had just moved to Chicago.)
To maintain his frantic hiring pace, Locke has added about 5 new workers  every day he's been in office, including Saturdays, Sundays and even Christmas Day.  Locke kept hiring even as the state's economy faltered, and state revenue declined.  The Governor kept the pedal to the metal even after hitting the recessionary wall.  Republicans are at fault too, because they approved Locke's budgets allowing him to continue his hiring spree.

Locke's 8,000 new workers are paid, on average, $50,000 per year in salary
and benefits.  That's a $400 million obligation every year; $800 million
for a biennium.

Jackie Juntti
WGEN  idzrus@earthlink.net    ...   http://www.voy.com/19385/