State may cut federally funded jobs
Toolbox
BY Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: April 2, 2009
MONTPELIER — April Moulaert doesn't understand why she may be laid off from state government.
The stated reason Vermont may have to cut as many as several hundred employees is clear: The state has a more than $200 million gap in the next fiscal year that budget writers are trying to fill through spending cuts and new revenue.
But what puzzles Moulaert is that her job as a wetland scientist — like several other positions that could be eliminated in the Fish and Wildlife Department — is largely federally funded.
"We have the money for this position," she said. And her position oversees a wetland restoration plan that is part of the Clean and Clear Lake Champlain restoration program that is a priority of the agency and of Gov. James Douglas.
Finally, the federal officials who oversee the program through which the federal funds make their way to the state have made it clear that they believe Moulaert's job is important. The position "has become critical to the successful implementation" of the program, a federal conservationist wrote in a letter.
"If my position is not here, there won't be anybody here to oversee the implementation of the (wetland) plan," Moulaert said.
The Douglas administration and Vermont State Employees Association are hoping to avoid some of the lay offs by compromising on salary and benefits reductions. Failing that, however, about 320 state jobs are on the line.
Moulaert, who talked to lawmakers about the possible cuts this week, has been at the Agency of Natural Resources for nine years in different departments. Taking her position into the Fish and Wildlife Department allowed more federal money to be used, said Wayne Laroche, commissioner of the department. The funding is roughly three-quarters federal and one-quarter state money.
But when it came time for Fish and Wildlife to suggest two potential layoffs — as other departments across the state have done — the department turned to jobs that were least essential to the core missions of the department, no matter what pot of taxpayer money they were paid from, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
In deference to the fact that most, if not all, Fish and Wildlife positions are funded in part by federal money, the department received the smallest "target" of reductions in his agency, Secretary of ANR Jonathan Wood said.
But to just take money out of the more heavily state-funded portions of the agency, such as the Department of Environmental Conservation, would not be fair either, Wood said.
"I was starting to bite into programs that are really, really critical permitting things," Wood said. "It was important that I spread this across the agency."
And the federal money not spent on the positions in Fish and Wildlife will not necessarily be lost, Wood said. Some of it can go to pay foresters in another portion of the agency. In addition, the agency will actually use more federal money this year, he added.
And some federal money not spent can be set aside until the state "matching funds requirement can be met," said Thomas Decker, director of operations for Fish and Wildlife.
In addition to Moulaert's position, the job of Jon Kart, a fish and wildlife scientist in charge of helping coordinate protection of non-game animals before they become endangered, is on the list of potential layoffs.
"None of my funding comes from the General Fund," said Kart, referring to the state's main bank account that is supported by state income tax and other sources. And not only will the federal money that is used to pay his salary and benefits be at risk, but the federal money and other funds that go to support his habitat restoration and other work — more than half of which is spent on private contractors and other needs in Vermont — could be lost, Kart said.
Every dollar of Fish and Wildlife spending on his program — mostly from hunting, fishing and trapping licenses — raises $7 in other funds, totaling millions over the years, Kart said.
Laying him off would actually cost the state money, given that his unemployment and other benefits would have to be paid, Kart told legislators.
In addition to Kart and Moulaert's jobs, four vacant Fish and Wildlife positions have been eliminated over the last year or so and are also largely federally funded.
For at least one of those eliminated vacant positions — a hunter education teacher — the state matching fund requirement was met by the work of volunteers.
"It is a body count. It is not about saving state General Fund money," said Sen. Susan Bartlett, D-Lamoille.
"All one can conclude when you start to lay off hard-working employees who don't cost the state anything is that the agenda is to privatize state government," said Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin.
And the potential layoffs are having another damaging effect on state government, Shumlin said.
"We have a government that is unable to perform its job because state employees have been terrorized and frightened in a way that is paralyzing their ability to get the job done. That is not how you responsibly manage state government," he said.
Wood said Shumlin is not entirely wrong about that.
"This is a big distraction. It is something that is taking people's minds, energy and thoughts off their jobs," he said. But that is the exception, not the rule, Wood added.
"The broad cross-section of the agency are concerned about their friends, but they are buckling down and doing their jobs."
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