http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110118/NEWS/110118013/1001/NEWS/More-than-1-000-Iowa-state-employees-face-possible-pink-slipsMore than a thousand people hired by the state within the past six months face losing their jobs because of Chet Culver administration’s “badly mismanaged” approach to running government, according to statements made today by Gov. Terry Branstad.
Branstad said he’s reviewing almost $84 million in cuts made by Culver shortly before he left office, noting that supplemental appropriations may be needed to avoid undesired consequences in the state’s corrections and human services departments....
State officials always said rehiring some of the early retirees was essential to maintain core public services but that the new hires would be hired at roughly 50 percent of the wages of their predecessors....
...Ten days later the Iowa Department of Human Services announced in an e-mail to staff that one option to deal with their portion of the cuts is to eliminate 129 beds and lay off 136 staff members at three of the four state-run mental health facilities.