State employment - and employee costs - dropping

A recent article in The Olympian and News Tribune by Brad Shannon takes an objective look at all the rhetoric about state workers and spending. It finds that, despite a growing state population, the percentage of spending on state employees is down.

Not up.

Down.

In 2002, the state spent 20.5 percent of the budget on state workers in higher-ed and general government. By this June, that had dropped to 18.2 percent.

Why is it down?

• Fewer state workers. Many have been laid off, or positions have gone unfilled.
• Pay cuts to remaining state employees.

Here’s another way The Olympian compared the numbers: total spending on state workers is about $2.7 billion. The budget shortfall is about $2 billion. Read the story here.