Gov. Jim Pillen announces plans to slash nearly 1,000 vacant state positions

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. Dec. 27, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen on Tuesday set his sights on eliminating any state government positions that have remained vacant for more than 90 days, estimating millions of dollars in savings.

Gov. Jim Pillen signs an executive order seeking to review vacant state positions every three months, eliminating those that have been unfilled for at least 90 days. April 30, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Pillen outlined the new plan in an executive order, slating the elimination of nearly 1,000 positions that have been vacant for months, if not years, while preserving certain “critical” positions. In total, the positions could save the state $39.4 million, according to the Governor’s Office.

“I promised to run state government like a business and this order delivers on that promise,” Pillen said in a statement. “We have proven we can work without them, so we will eliminate them and return the money to the taxpayers.”

Savings could increase by up to 25%, the office states, considering market factors in certain higher rates of hiring — up to roughly $49 million in that case.

State law already requires the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services’ Budget Division to review all full-time positions that have been vacant for 90 days or more. The new order states that such vacant positions will be eliminated beginning June 1 and every 90 days after.

The state budget administrator would be authorized to redistribute those funds, such as to other priorities or returned through property tax relief.

Maintaining a level of service

Justin Hubly, executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees. Dec. 7, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

The Nebraska Association of Public Employees, which represents more than 8,000 state employees, said Tuesday that more than one in five state jobs are vacant and waiting for qualified applicants. 

Through the order, the union said, “it is clear that the governor expects public employees to work short staffed permanently.”

“This decision hurts all Nebraskans,” Justin Hubly, union executive director, said. “We should expect consequences, including longer lines and closures at DMV 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.”

State Sen. Robert Clements of Elmwood, chair of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, said the governor has been looking at operational efficiencies alongside a need to prevent the state’s level of service from dropping.

“I don’t have a problem with eliminating vacancies as long as the level of service is maintained, which they’re telling me they’re making sure that’s the case,” Clements said.

The employees union remains in a legal battle with Pillen over a previous executive order that seeks to end most remote work.

Property tax relief

Laura Strimple, a spokesperson for Pillen, said the “vast majority of vacancies” are no longer necessary for operating state government, but wasn’t immediately able to provide a list of such positions. 

She didn’t respond to a question about what other priorities exist for redistributing funds, beyond property tax relief. 

“That is certainly the top priority,” Strimple said in an email to the Nebraska Examiner.

The state is currently contracting with Epiphany Associates to find additional cost savings, though the executive order is not related to that process, she said.

“However, the savings would supplement savings that are identified through the work by Epiphany,” Strimple said.

More than 100 state employees rallied during a noon hour in early December against Gov. Pillen’s order to end remote work. Dec. 7, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Union members will begin negotiating a new labor contract in September, a news release states. In light of Tuesday’s order — which the union says could ask employees to do more for the same pay — members plan to negotiate for higher wages if they conclude the governor is unwilling to appropriately staff state agencies.

“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.”

‘Spending money well’

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the Legislature’s Revenue Committee chair, who is working closely with Pillen on tax relief, including for a likely special session this year, said the governor protected public safety in protecting certain positions from being eliminated while allowing more transparency about how funds will be moved within agencies.

“I think the governor is really trying to make sure that we’re spending money well,” Linehan said.

The order would preserve the following positions should they become vacant for 90 days:

• Law enforcement officers, correctional officers, firefighters, children and family services specialists and similar positions directly related to public safety.

• Positions that provide direct operational support for facilities offering 24/7 services.

• Highway maintenance and construction workers and other directly related positions.

• Positions exempt from the State Personnel System.

• Positions being held vacant due to those allocated funds being used for other temporary personnel liabilities.

• Positions in the active process of being reclassified.

• Other positions approved by the Office of the Governor to remain vacant, at the budget administrator’s recommendation.

The authority to move funds

Typically, transfers of appropriated funds are not allowed between departments or even between some programs within departments unless the Legislature has given such authority, multiple senators and the Legislative Fiscal Office confirmed to the Examiner.

State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams. Jan. 5, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska News Service)

State Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams said this authority “depends on, I call it, the nuances.”

“Take DHHS — they are one of 70 some agencies, but they are the biggest one in that within them they have approximately 25 to 30 programs,” Dorn said. “Certain ones they can transfer [funds] between them, other ones they cannot.”

Asked about the authority to redistribute funds, Clements noted that Pillen’s chief of staff, Dave Lopez, is an attorney and said, “I don’t think that they’re interested in doing anything illegal.”

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