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Continue Monitoring Government Payroll

A report that state government’s payroll includes 917 fewer full-time positions than it did about three years ago is good news to West Virginians.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s office reported the state has 37,358.37 FTEs, the equivalent of full-time employees. The decline of 917 began in March 2013, when Tomblin ordered a hiring freeze to cope with declining revenue.

Those who have watched the state payroll for years are right to be skeptical, of course. Too often, temporary declines are followed by increases.

Also worthy of attention is where the cuts are occurring. There have been suggestions too few bureaucrats and too many workers actually providing services have lost their jobs. In that regard, it is worth asking why the Department of Administration, managing a smaller budget and fewer people, needs 10.5 more employees than in March 2013.

Still, during a time when all spending assumptions in state government need to be reexamined, the jobs report merits a cautious pat on the back.

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