Nebraska governor signs order to cut 1,000 vacant state jobs

Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday signed an executive order that aims to eliminate up to 1,000 state government jobs that have remained open for 90 days or more.

The funds budgeted for those positions will be reallocated to other priorities of the state or be used to lower property tax payments for Nebraskans, the governor said.

The executive order takes effect on June 1.

“I promised to run state government like a business and this order delivers on that promise,” Pillen said in a news release. “These positions have been vacant for months or even years, and yet government has continued to function.

“We have proven we can work without them, so we will eliminate them and return the money to the taxpayers,” he added.

While the executive order targets positions that have been open for at least 90 days, Pillen identified several categories of government staff that would not be cut.

Those positions include law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, children and family service specialists, or other state employees directly involved in public safety.

Positions that provide direct operational support or facilities offering around-the-clock service are also protected from elimination, as are highway maintenance and construction workers.

The executive order also does not apply to executive branch staff working for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general and state auditor.

It also does not affect legislative and court staff, employees at the Public Service Commission, University of Nebraska, Nebraska State College System, Nebraska Department of Education, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education and other offices.

The goal of closing 1,000 vacant positions could result in a savings of $39.4 million, including $15.2 million of direct savings to the state’s general fund, Pillen’s office said.

The governor said savings up to 25% more “may be possible,” which could bump total taxpayer savings to $49 million.

The plan to achieve savings by closing open jobs comes less than two weeks after Pillen’s proposal to reduce Nebraskans’ property tax bills by 40% failed on the floor of the Legislature.

Pillen’s plan called for eliminating sales tax exemptions and hiking the sales tax rate, but was met with opposition from a wide array of businesses, anti-tax advocacy groups, think tanks and others.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, which represents more than 8,000 state workers, said the plan to close open positions to achieve savings would hurt all Nebraskans.

NAPE represents employees who work in 300 different frontline jobs in each of Nebraska’s 93 counties.

Justin Hubly, the executive director of NAPE, said 1 in 5 state jobs are currently waiting for a qualified applicant to fill the position. Closing those vacancies would put added pressure on the remaining workforce, ensuring they work short-staffed permanently, he said.

“We should expect consequences, including longer lines and closures at (Department of Motor Vehicles) locations to continue, hold times to increase when applying for Medicaid, and a slowdown in the delivery of unemployment services, just to name a few,” Hubly said.

“We want to do the best for our neighbors, but we simply can’t deliver quality service with a permanent 20% reduction in the state workforce,” he added.

Hubly said the executive order will force NAPE members to take on more work for essentially the same pay, and said they plan to negotiate higher wages if Pillen goes through with his plan to cut positions.

“The governor has a noble goal of reducing property taxes and running the most efficient state government possible,” Hubly said. “Funding for property tax relief, however, cannot come at the expense of providing quality frontline services to all Nebraskans.”

This is a developing story. Return to Journalstar.com for updates.