Governor’s Plan for Public Safety Layoffs Takes Wrong Approach

August 17, 2015 by Mark Scott in Blog, Budget and Tax

Families will struggle to make ends meet for no good public policy reason under Governor Hogan’s plan to lay off up to 63 state workers—in the department that runs the state’s prisons and parole and probation service.

The Administration’s proposal to cut positions from the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services would be in addition to the 2 percent across the board cuts already slated to occur this year. The Governor hoped to solidify the elimination of these positions earlier this month at the Board of Public Works meeting. However, the board decided to take no action until its next scheduled meeting on August 26.

As Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3 (which represents state workers) said recently, “Governor Hogan boasted in January that he had submitted a budget without the need for layoffs. But when long time, dedicated employees are told they will be terminated, but they can reapply for the same job they had—that is firing workers. Firing workers does not improve public safety.”

The Governor’s cuts-only approach to managing Maryland’s finances was a bad idea from the start because of the harm it does to Maryland’s families and the state’s economy. Such a narrow approach is shortsighted. A better idea is a balanced approach that includes revenue to meet the state’s growing needs. Layoffs, whether in the private sector or government, are at best a short-term fix that over the longer haul increase the demand for services while reducing the resources available to the state.

The latest layoff plan would have a silver lining if it sparks debate about a more genuine way to meet the challenges facing Maryland. We need a real conversation about what would actually grow Maryland’s economy and promote prosperity for all – not one that refuses to consider calling upon Maryland’s wealthiest residents and most profitable corporations to pay more of their fair share toward the public good.