By Senator Richard T. Moore

August 31, 2010 ... Talk show hosts, newspaper columnists, bloggers, political opponents and a variety of citizens have claimed that the Patrick-Murray Administration has added thousands of publicly funded jobs at a time when the state and nation are experiencing the deepest economic recession since the Great Depression of the Nineteen Thirties. Those claims have fueled public anger because it contrasts with the loss of jobs in the private sector as well as general antipathy toward “big government.” The facts, however, seem to contradict the general opinion of the situation.

The Patrick administration says it has eliminated almost 2,500 jobs under its control since state revenues began to collapse 18 months ago, and a Boston Globe analysis of payroll data roughly confirms that figure.  Since Governor Deval Patrick took office in January 2007, there are 1,645 fewer executive branch positions paid for by the state budget, 1,699 fewer executive branch jobs paid from all funding sources, and 2,079 fewer positions in the entire state workforce.

The Patrick administration expanded the state payroll by 944 jobs in agencies under the governor’s authority before starting to downsize in late 2008. However, since October 2008, the administration has cut 2,457 positions paid out of state budget funds in executive branch agencies under the governor’s control (excluding courts, public colleges and universities, the Legislature, constitutional and county offices, and several independent agencies); 2,643 positions in executive agencies paid from all funding sources (including state budget, federal, trust, and capital funds); and 4,155 positions reduced from the entire state workforce, regardless of governor’s control or funding source.

Candidly, the job cuts have not yet been as deep as prior rounds of payroll slashing in recessions by William F. Weld in the early 1990s and Mitt Romney in 2003 and 2004. In Romney’s case, most of the jobs were restored as the economy improved.

Although the Legislature’s workforce is significantly smaller than the positions controlled by the Executive Branch, reductions have also been made in that branch as well. In fact, I can personally attest to the reduction of my own outstanding office staff from six to five – all of whom earn less than the state’s median income and who have not been able to receive even a cost of living increase for the past five years. Fortunately, they have assumed expanded duties and we have been able to supplement their services with the help of several very dedicated volunteer interns. Legislators, themselves, have taken furloughs and other salary reduction measures to do their part in easing the fiscal crisis in state government here, and across the nation.

Given the economy’s painfully slow recovery, these fiscal constraints are likely to continue for the next few years. Public service jobs at both the state and local level will be cut further as a result of budget cuts that were necessary to balance the state budget for the year that began July 1. Prospects for additional cuts in the following two or three fiscal years are also expected. These cuts in state jobs and state-funded non-profit sector jobs have consequences, of course. For example, waiting times at the Registry of Motor Vehicles have increased dramatically. Recently, a Council on Aging staffer complained about a six month wait to have a senior citizen evaluated for necessary independent living services.

Clearly, there are negative impacts for taxpayers beyond the personal economic impact to the public employees who have been laid off or furloughed. Public employees, like those in the private sector, collect unemployment benefits and don’t return as much to the economic recovery as those who receive paychecks. Fewer public employees also means that there are longer lines at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and other agencies that the public relies upon for service. It also could affect response times of police and fire or increase class sizes in schools or a variety of other factors that should concern all of us. 

The public employees who lose their jobs or take early retirement were, in nearly every case, performing a needed function to the best of their ability. Often they are doing jobs that are dangerous or simply performing essential work that most of us would prefer not to do ourselves or may not have the training or skill set to perform. They deserve our appreciation and not our scorn. 

While reducing the public workforce is inevitable given our economy, the need for job cuts does not diminish the important work that many public employees have performed. Layoffs and furloughs in the public sector do not mean that the jobs that were performed had no value. The same is true with layoffs in the private sector. Work in both public and private sectors have value to taxpayers and customers, but with reduced revenue services will take longer and products will be back-ordered. We need to look for ways to more cost-effectively deliver essential public services while each of us also assumes a greater burden of the role of citizen – as our forefathers once did – to fill the gaps that have been created in meeting important public needs through volunteerism and charitable support.

As the economy eventually improves in future years, there will be pressure to restore many of these jobs as there were during the Romney Administration. For that reason, I have advocated, and the Senate approved, the establishment of a “Sunset Review Commission” to evaluate state agencies to determine if they are needed or if their work could be consolidated with other agencies to reduce state spending. I have also co-sponsored legislation to make the state budget more transparent to the public – a proposal that the House recently incorporated in their version of the budget. The budget transparency provisions, ultimately, became law. However, I will need to keep up the fight for the “Sunset Review” process in the new legislative term.

Senator Richard T. Moore represents the Worcester and Norfolk District towns of Bellingham, Blackstone, Douglas, Dudley, Hopedale, Mendon, Milford, Millville, Northbridge, Oxford, Southbridge, Sutton, Uxbridge and Webster in the Massachusetts Senate.  He is also the President of the National Conference of State Legislatures.    

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