By PATRICK JACKSON
Dover Bureau reporter
11/20/2003
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner partially lifted the state's 14-month-old hiring freeze on Wednesday, hoping to trim mounting overtime costs and more quickly fill jobs in prisons, hospitals and other facilities staffed around the clock.
The order affects 624 vacant jobs in the departments of Correction, Health and Social Services, and Services for Children, Youth and their Families. About 1,490 other vacancies in the state's 16,400 noneducation work force remain frozen.
Minner imposed the freeze in September 2002 to cut spending after state revenue began to fall below estimates used that June in adopting the 2003 budget.
"The economy is showing signs of improving and I hope that we will be able to completely lift the hiring freeze before too long," Minner said in a statement.
The freeze exempted essential positions such as correction officer, nurse or state trooper, positions that are among the 624 vacancies now free of hiring restrictions. But requests to fill such vacancies were scrutinized by the Personnel Office, which caused delays that lost some candidates to private-sector jobs.
Minner's order eliminates the extra review, which should allow essential jobs to be filled more quickly, state officials said.
Minner's order also removes the freeze on some nonessential support positions in 24-hour facilities.
"This will give us the flexibility to be able to hire and not have to wait and risk losing someone when they come in," said Karryl McManus, deputy director of Health and Social Services.
Minner's order covers 352 jobs at health and social services facilities, 200 openings at corrections facilities and 72 vacancies in the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families.
Gregory Patterson, Minner's spokesman, said lifting the freeze also should help cut overtime costs. Overtime in agencies covered by the order has risen by about 5 percent in the past year as workers stretched to cover shifts in prisons, hospitals, juvenile-detention centers and other 24-hour facilities.
Michael Begatto, executive director of Council 81 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Minner's order is an encouraging sign.
"We're very happy. The governor stood by her word when she said there would be no layoffs of state workers and she's standing by her word by starting to lift the freeze as things get better," Begatto said.
Union members rallied Monday in Wilmington, calling for an end to the freeze, a pay raise in the budget year that begins in July and a one-time bonus using $24 million in tax revenue not included when the General Assembly adopted the current budget in June. State workers not covered by a contract received no raise in the current budget.
"If the governor and General Assembly have done their jobs right, the numbers should be stronger in December and maybe she can lift the freeze for everyone else," Begatto said.
Budget officials estimate the 2005 budget will have about $190 million more than the state had to work with in the current budget. But they said earlier this month that $130 million to $150 million more will be needed to cover rising costs for health insurance, pension contributions and other items.
Reach Patrick Jackson at 678-4274 or pjackson@delawareonline.com.
