Louisiana Voice

Even as Gov. Bobby Jindal insists that Louisiana’s economy is improving, another round of state layoffs, this one in the Division of Administration, has been announced in Baton Rouge. Scheduled to take effect only two weeks after Christmas, the latest round will impact positions in the Office of Information Technology, Office of Information Services, Office of Computing Services, and Office of Telecommunications Management.

The announcement was made by a Nov. 5 e-mail from Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater through appointing authority Steven Procopio and was sent to managers and supervisors in the Division of Administration. It was the second e-mail notification of layoffs to state employees. Two weeks ago, employees of the Department of Health and Hospitals received similar notification. DHH layoffs, like those in the DOA, are scheduled for early January.

The latest email was sent to department heads with instructions to distribute copies of the notice to employees by e-mail and to post copies on office bulletin boards. It contained the disclaimer that the message was “only for the specified individual or organization,” and that any unauthorized dissemination or copying of the e-mail “is strictly prohibited.”

“These layoffs are being proposed due to $4.1 million in budget cuts facing the Division of Administration and the need for cost savings for Fiscal Year 2010-2011,” it said.

The state is presently facing a budget deficit of $106 million for the current fiscal year and projections are for a $1.6 billion shortfall for FY 2011-2012, according to Jindal.

Jindal announced last month that as many as one-third of the Louisiana Board of Ethics staff would be laid off in efforts to draw down the current budget deficit. On Nov. 4 Jindal said on his web blog that Louisiana had one of the top 10 business climates in the nation and that Louisiana “was the most improved state in the country.” He said his Department of Economic Development “has certainly been able to do more with less.”