Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

"We eliminated almost 4,000 positions from the state payroll."

So said our governor, James Doyle, last week. (OK – it's in the prepared text, anyway.) He labeled it a "tough cut" and I'm wondering exactly at whom that comment was directed. I'm thinking he probably didn't direct at the people who have lost their jobs or their families. I am also inclined to think that he didn't direct it at the remaining thousands of state employees. Or maybe he did. Was it a bit of honesty? Was it a warning to state employees and their unions? I really don't know what to think. I haven't heard the speech so, if that remark was spoken, I don't know what tone of voice he used to say those words. Did he sound rueful? Did he sound proud for having done this to help reduce the state debt? Or did he sound otherwise?

Doyle also said: "We reduced outside contracting by 12 percent - the first reduction in a decade." I don't have any statistics on this so I assume that this is accurate. Where I work, there certainly isn't any shortage of contractors, though, and FTEs are getting fewer and fewer. If we contractors disappeared, well, let's just say it would be very difficult to conduct business. Of course, my experience does not cover every state agency and is mostly limited to IT. There is a boatload of restructuring going on in the state IT world. Some people have lost or will lose their jobs. Other folks have had their position transferred to a different agency. And there are those that have been put into different positions. But there's no doubt that rules about hiring contractors have changed. On 1 June of last year, the Wisconsin IT Directors Council had their monthly meeting. From the minutes:

Staff levels are down significantly (from 30 to 20) in at least one agency. The general expectation among the group was that this trend will continue in response to the SIS initiative as well as other factors. The VMS procurement process being behind schedule, which currently precludes agencies from obtaining new contractors, was also mentioned. It was suggested that perhaps recent retirees may be willing to return in LTE positions.

And from their November meeting:

New Contractor Sourcing Contract – Has anyone used it yet? Three attendees indicated they have used the new sourcing process. Of those three IT directors, the general consensus was that they are not getting many responses as with the previous process and that the respondents they were getting were from a larger geographical area. As many as ~70% of the respondents for one agency were from out of state including one individual from outside the country. Another general comment was that upon interviewing applicants, a notable portion e.g. ~ 50% for one agency, of the respondents appeared not to be qualified for the advertised position. The comment was made that some individuals appeared to be mismatched with the resume submitted. This prompted a discussion on what different agencies are doing and what resources are available to check backgrounds and access the truthfulness of information supplied by individuals applying for contractor spots.

Doyle also said: "We're using the state's buying power to save taxpayers $150 million on everything from office paper to computers to prescription drugs." This brings to mind a comment a friend, who works at a state agency, made to me today:

I just received word that I'm no longer able to order toner cartridges from the little local company that we've used for years. The new contract is to order new ones from Office Max or remans from a company in Minnesota. So this means that now instead of ordering pc's from a company in Pewaukee I have to order them from China and I now have to get my toner from a company in Mnpls. I find it hard to understand how the Governor feels he's going to help the local economy (let's face it, you can only cut so much, you need to increase revenue) by sending our tax dollars out of state or out of the country and bankrupting local businesses. Meanwhile the head of consolidated procurement at DOA has just been indicted.

One should also note that the Wisconsin Help Desk is no longer staffed by a Wisconsin company but rather by one in Illinois. I cannot vouch for other contracts going out of state and it is certainly possible that these are tough but necessary actions that will benefit the state in the long run even if it is rough in the short run. I just don't know. But I am curious to know what it is about the new Contractor Sourcing Contract that would produce a body of applicants which found nearly 70% of them coming from out of state. If we've gotta induce recent retirees to return as LTEs to get the job done within budget, so be it. But what if not enough of them can be cajoled back into service?

While I reducing the state deficit is a good thing, only time will tell if the measures Doyle has taken hold true. If staffing levels go down, will the work that needs to be done actually get done? After the SIS initiative is in place, will we the taxpayers be saving money? I sure hope so. But, if you read those meeting minutes, you can see that IT directors have a lot of questions about $$$ that, as of the time of the meeting, were unanswered. SIS involves the Department of Administration hosting various IT services and thusly forcing the other agencies to pay DOA for them. This is a top-level thing so you can't just opt-out. What if part of your agency's operating budget comes not from the state coffer but from business? You are a company and you pay a state agency to regulate your industry - you will find yourself, in essence, paying the DOA for services. How will that go over?

There's a lot going on now and so there's a lot of money at stake and a lot of politics involved. And we're just going to have to wait to see how it all pans out.