Cuts for public safety, corrections rejected by Culver

DES MOINES – Gov. Chet Culver today said he has accepted state agency cost-cutting plans that will reduce $520 million in general-fund spending by next June 30.

The plans from 28 state departments that have been approved will result in 181 layoffs and will include a new requirement that 3,258 non-union employees will take seven unpaid furlough days yet this fiscal year, he said. Another 230 vacant positions will not be filled.

Also, Culver said he has rejected plans offered by the departments of corrections and public safety that would have amounted to 568 layoffs that included state troopers, corrections officers and other key positions.

The governor said he has asked the three unions that represent about 17,600 state workers to reopen contract talks in hopes of reaching a revised two-year agreement that would less the number of public safety and corrections employees that would need to be laid off to achieve his goal of cutting $565 million in spending at the executive branch level.

He declined to discuss what cost-cutting options might be discussed if collective bargaining talks are reopened.

Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 61, said his union has agreed to meet with the governor for the “sole purpose” of avoiding layoffs.

“We are unsure of where these talks will lead, other than to say AFSCME will do its part to consider all options that are put on the table,” Homan said in a statement.

Culver said the $6 million that will be saved via the furlough days and additional funding freed up by interdepartmental transfers has enabled him to restore about $16 million in proposed cuts in areas of public health, human services, education, college aid assistance and workforce development.

“This is a very unique situation that requires unique leadership,” he said. “The last thing we want to do during a recession is to lay more people off.”

At the same time, he noted that “everyone is going to have to sacrifice” and that citizens who rely on some state services will see that assistance reduced, delayed or eliminated.