Jindal sets hiring freeze

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 21, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Gov. Bobby Jindal froze state government hiring Thursday for the second time in less than a year.

The latest freeze is a cost-cutting measure born out of stagnant state tax revenue and plummeting oil prices.

The Jindal administration is predicting a $1.3 billion shortfall for the state budget year that starts July 1.

“I can’t sugarcoat it,” Commissioner of Administration Angèle Davis told lawmakers at a legislative budget meeting Thursday. “It’s going to be very difficult.”

The economic downturn follows two consecutive budget years that produced surpluses.

By not hiring any more employees for state government, the administration hopes to save $25 million.

Positions dealing with direct health care and public safety are exempt while the state’s public colleges and universities have authority over which jobs they freeze, Davis said.

The governor froze state hiring shortly after taking office in January. That freeze was billed as a bid toward fiscal conservatism.

Davis said the earlier hiring curtailment resulted in a cut of 1,000 positions over six months. But under questioning by legislators, the administration acknowledged that state government hired 2,400 full-time workers after the first freeze ended.

State Rep. Mert Smiley, R-St. Amant, complained about an increase in the number of jobs that pay more than $100,000 since the earlier hiring freeze ended.

“Clearly, our government’s too big,” said state Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington.

Schroder said he wants to concentrate on downsizing government rather than on cutting programs.

“I want to see bricks and mortar and people cut,” he said.