While A&F continues to work with Executive Branch agencies to develop comprehensive and affordable staffing plans, it is also a goal to maintain accountability and transparency in public reporting of staffing levels.

Affect of the Budget on Personnel to Date

FTE Caps

Since the fall of 2008 The Administration has provided strict FTE caps to the Executive Branch Departments.  The caps are implemented at the department level and reviewed regularly by A&F to ensure agencies are taking the necessary steps to live within capped levels.

FTE caps are meant to be consistent with amounts allocated for FTE spending.  If an agency does not project that enough funding is available to maintain an FTE level, a “reduction in force” plan must be submitted to the Human Resources Division within A&F.  These plans are reviewed for their impact on public health and safety.

Reduction in Workforce

As a result of the fiscal crisis, all Agencies are being asked to do more with less.  Since the fall of 2008 the state workforce for jobs in the Executive Branch funded with operating dollars has declined by 2,111 jobs.  The reduction can be attributed to layoffs, attrition and retirement across all agencies in the Executive Branch.

Furloughs

The Governor is also requiring approximately 4,000 managers within the executive branch to take up to nine furlough days in fiscal year 2010. This is in addition to furloughs required of managers in fiscal year 2009.  Additionally, since 2008, the Governor and the Legislature have increased employee health care contributions, premium contributions and co-pays for health services, as a means of achieving budgetary savings.

Union Contributions

The Governor called for renewed union negotiations and contributions in October, as the Administration identified a $600 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year. To date, the Governor has reached agreement with the leaders of four state employee unions representing 30,000 state employees. The Patrick-Murray Administration has reached agreement with union workers on a new contract that will save the Commonwealth millions of dollars and help mitigate employee layoffs.

Members of SEIU Local 509 and members of Unit 2 represented by AFSCME Council 93 have ratified contract revisions that will save taxpayers over $50 million over the next three years, including roughly $14 million this fiscal year. It is the first time since collective bargaining was established in the Commonwealth that a Governor has successfully negotiated such compromises.

If approved by the Legislature, the new contracts will save tens of millions of dollars through a combination of delayed wage increases and eliminating some payments to the Health and Welfare fund. 

The savings from these revisions will allow the Administration to protect key programs and services and prevent some employee layoffs.

H.2 Employment Levels

In reviewing the reductions needed to live within fiscal year 2011 available funding, each agency will be required to critically evaluate their employee level and determine if a reduction in this area is needed to maintain a balanced budget.  The fiscal year 2011 H.2 recommendation estimates 66,575 FTEs.  This amount includes FTEs from both Executive and Non-Executive departments as well as positions funded from the operating accounts listed within the budget.

For fiscal year 2011, FTE caps will continue to be in place in order to continue to manage the state workforce.  For the Executive Branch, head count will be managed for all funding sources but specifically for the operating budget funds recommended in the H.2 recommendation. 

Key initiatives Impacting the State Workforce

MassDOT Reform

In June 2009, Governor Patrick signed Chapter 25 of the Acts of 2009 creating the new, streamlined Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).  MassDOT represents a merger of the former Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOT) with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD), the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV), the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission (MAC) and the Tobin Bridge.  The new organization also assumed responsibility for many of the bridges and parkways formerly operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  Implementing the reform act has lead to changes in the classification of transportation FTEs, namely the transition of the 1,200 former EOT and DCR budgetary FTEs to an off budget trust fund. 

Sheriffs

A year ago, Governor Patrick proposed the alignment of all 14 Massachusetts State and County Sheriffs under the state budgeting and finance laws. The Legislature approved the Governor’s proposal through passage of the sheriff transfer legislation, Chapter 102 of the Acts of 2009, which was approved by the Governor on August 6, 2009. This act transferred the remaining 7 county sheriff departments to the Commonwealth effective January 1, 2010. Since then, sheriff departments have successfully transitioned onto the state budgeting and accounting system and all sheriff employees have been placed on state payroll, increasing the state FTE count by approximately 2,750 employees. However, this does not represent a parallel increase in state spending as sheriff operations prior to the transfer were predominantly funded by the Commonwealth. Additionally, deeds excise revenue previously funding sheriff operations will now be remitted to the Commonwealth.

Information Technology Realignments

Because of an initiative to transfer all information technology employees to secretariats, those employees that have routinely been funded from off-budget sources are being transferred into Intragovernmental Service Fund accounts where they will report to staff at the secretariat-level, but continue to be paid from the off-budget sources.  This represents an “increase” of nearly 300 FTEs on the overall totals.

Contractor / Capital Conversions

Given the cost associated with paying for employees from capital funds and the renewed focus on wage enforcement efforts, every effort continues to be made to convert contract employees to full-time equivalents, and to transfer employees onto the operating budget.  Along with conversions that have already been made, H.2 includes an outside section that allows for certain capital and operating costs to be exchanged so that appropriate operating dollars spent on capital needs can be shifted to the capital budget and vice versa.  This section will have an impact on our budgeted employee level but it should be noted that these are not new state employees, they are just new to the operating budget.

Other Considerations

Like all departments, the non-executive branch agencies will be working to evaluate impacts on employees.  Additionally, because funding at the Higher Education campuses comes from various sources, some employee impacts may be mitigated.  Additionally, certain FTE increases due to compliance with legal settlements and to address needs around public health and safety must be considered.

Equal Opportunity Employment / Employee Diversity

Diversity and Equal Opportunity under the Patrick-Murray Administration continues to flourish. Since the beginning of this administration there has been a conscious effort to increase the diversity of our employee base with respect to the women and minority groups.

Focus was first placed on recruitment and outreach, in an effort to increase the overall representation of women and minorities in our workforce.  As of the end of fiscal year 2009, women comprised 52.4% of the overall workforce. Minorities represented 22.3% of our workforce which represents a 3.8% increase overall.

In particular there has been a focus on increasing the representation of females and minorities in the senior level management ranks.  As of the end of fiscal year 09, females represented 47.0% of our senior managers and minorities represented 12.5% of our senior managers.

Women represent 48.2% of the Commonwealth’s non-management workforce, while minorities represent 22.1%.