The House Appropriations Committee continues to take testimony on the governor’s budget proposal this week, but something isn’t adding up. When DOTD came to the table Tuesday, Appropriations chairman Jim Fannin started questioning purported savings from the disappearance of 33 jobs.
“Walk me through where they’re going, and what we’re doing on the 33,” Fannin asked.
“Three positions are being eliminated,” legislative budget analyst Daniel Waguespack explained. “And then 30 positions are being transferred to the Office of State Human Capital.”
The problem is, the Office of State Human Capital does not yet exist.
“This is the new office that’s being created in the ancillary bill, where the Division is basically consolidating all of HR services,” Waguespack further elucidated.
But no bill has yet been filed to create this new human resources agency within the Division of Administration, so the state workers are vanishing into thin air. Yet DOTD Assistant Secretary Nita Chambers says the 30 employees won’t truly be going anywhere.
“Our understanding is the way this is going to work initially is everybody will stay in place. They’re going to be doing the same work they’re doing—within their agency—in the same spot,” Chambers stated.
Fannin said he was still confused how that became jobs eliminated from DOTD, if people remain where they are and continue doing the same job. Further, he wants to know how that magically becomes “savings”.
“I’m trying to get in my mind where our savings are,” a perplexed Fannin said.
“The Division’s going to have to speak to that,” Chambers responded.
“So you don’t really know where you’ll have savings or not?” Fannin asked.
“No, sir,” was Chambers’ reply.
The overall budget proposal claims nearly $25-million in “savings”, by eliminating more than 300 jobs from the various state departments, and moving them to the anticipated Office of Human Capital. The savings only exist because that new agency doesn’t.