Cayetano: 2,350 layoffs
would save $100 million

Furloughs won't have enough
impact, the administration says

By Rob Perez
Star-Bulletin

The state government would have to cut at least 2,350 positions to save $100 million, the Cayetano administration said today.

The administration provided that outlook before a House committee this morning as part of an effort to give context to various proposals being floated for cutting state government.

Administration members said they weren't making any recommendations but wanted to give a sense of what effects there would be if some of the proposals calling for cuts of anywhere from $100 million to $400 million in tax revenue are adopted.

Based on an average of $42,525 in salary and benefits for a state worker, a cut of at least 2,350 positions would be needed to save $100 million, Budget Director Earl Anzai said.

The actual number probably would be higher because the lesser-seniority employee who finally leaves -- senior employees targeted for layoffs can bump less-senior workers -- likely would earn less than that average, he said.

Another proposal being considered is furloughing state workers.

If every employee except those in the Department of Education, University of Hawaii and 24-hour facilities such as prisons and hospitals were furloughed one day a week, that would save only $62 million, Anzai said.

He pooh-poohed a proposal calling for the state not to fill positions that become vacant. Excluding vital jobs that must be filled, like teachers and prison guards, that would leave fewer than 1,000 positions unfilled, and many of those are essential, Anzai said.

"Attrition is not the answer," he said. "It's a dream, a myth."

Once nondiscretionary spending such as debt-service and top-priority areas such as education are set aside, the state has only $680 million of a $3 billion-plus general fund budget from which to cut, Anzai said.

But several House Labor & Public Employment Committee members said the administration has not looked seriously enough at various methods to come up with savings.