Senate Passes Language To Prevent State From Cutting More Than 1% Of Workforce When Leg Out Of Session.
But if you’re one of those 50+ state employees who constitute the 1% allowed to be cut, probably not much consolation. However, it does prevent the wholesale rescission cutting the State has engaged in the past few years.
Sec. E 100.6 32 V.S.A. § 704b is added to read:
§704b. PROPOSED REDUCTION IN WORK FORCE WHEN GENERAL ASSEMBLY NOT IN SESSION
(a) The general assembly recognizes that after it adjourns, it may nonetheless be necessary to take significant measures to achieve savings in order to ensure a balanced budget in the general fund due to unknown and unforeseen circumstances. As a result, if the general assembly is not in session, and the secretary of administration proposes to eliminate, by reduction in force, position elimination, or both, more than one percent of the entire state workforce in one fiscal year, as measured cumulatively from July 1 in that fiscal year, the secretary shall first submit a plan which complies with the standards outlined in subdivision (1) through (7) of this subsection to the joint fiscal committee for its consideration. For the purposes of this section, “entire state workforce” means full-time, permanent, classified and exempt state employees.
(1) The plan shall outline the proportional impacts on exempt employees, classified confidential employees, and all other employee classifications, and shall not have an unduly disproportionate impact on any employee classification;
(2) The plan shall not have an unduly disproportionate effect on any single function, program, service, or benefit;
(3) The plan shall describe how it will minimize any negative impacts of delivery of services to the public, public health, and safety;
(4) The plan shall describe how it will minimize cost impacts on other departments, agencies, or areas of government;
(5) The plan shall describe all proposed reductions in expenditures authorized by a general appropriations or budget adjustment act;
(6) The plan shall describe why other alternatives to the proposed elimination of positions are not utilized in the plan; and
(7) The plan shall reflect the priorities established by the general assembly in law.
(b) A plan developed under subsection (a) of this section shall be filed with the joint fiscal committee and shall not be implemented unless approved by the joint fiscal committee as set forth under this subsection. The joint fiscal committee shall meet within 14 days of the date the secretary’s plan is filed, to review and act upon the plan in accordance with the standards in subsection (a) of this section. The committee shall approve or disapprove the plan, and if disapproved, the plan shall not be implemented.