Team Malloy Sharpens the Sword of Layoffs

The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sent layoff instructions to agency heads today, another calculated reminder of the stakes if the administration and state employees fail to agree on $1 billion in concessions.

The detailed instructions sent by Benjamin Barnes, the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, follow by two days his request for managers to identify 10 percent in additional spending cuts, another contingency in case concessions are not forthcoming.

"On Monday I asked all Commissioners to provide 10% reduction options, beyond those included in the Governor's budget proposal," Barnes told agency heads in a memo today. "It is clear that in many instances it will be impossible to achieve these levels of reduction without reducing the number of employees, both through attrition and also through lay-off."

The instructions come as Barnes' deputy, Mark Ojakian, is trying to obtain steep labor savings in talks with a coalition of state-employee unions, and the administration is sending a series of signals about the consequences of failed concession talks.

"There are deadlines that need to be met, notices that need to go out," said Roy Occhiogrosso, the governor's senior adviser. "If in the process of that people begin to understand the consequences of what will happen if there is not an agreement, then great. That's not why it's being done."

The instructions cover procedures. They do not tell agency heads how many employees would be laid off if the concession talks fail, but Malloy previously has said the number would be in the thousands.

The unions offered a measured response.

"I recognize the governor is going to make contingency plans. He is the chief elected official. He has to do that," said Larry Dorman, a spokesman for the state employees' coalition.

Dorman said the unions are focused on the continuing talks, as well as the public debate on taxes and the budget, and less concerned about contingencies.

"I think whether it is procedural or saber rattling is less important than focusing on what we need to do to get this economy moving forward," Dorman said of today's instructions. "And what we need to do to get this economy moving and protect workers is to focus on Plan A, not Plan B."

But Plan B is a concern to others.

At a town-hall meeting Tuesday night in New Britain, Terry Edelstein of the Connecticut Community Providers Association expressed alarm about Barnes's previous memo about reductions and what a 10-percent cut would do to social services provided by her members.

"I'm just getting ready. Either we're going to reach agreements on cost savings or not," Malloy said. "Don't blame me for getting ready in case it doesn't. I hear you. You know what I want to do."

Today, Occhiogrosso used similar language, saying the layoff instructions are a step in getting ready for another contingency the governor would like to avoid.

"It's 100-percent we need to be ready to pose an alternative budget if something that closely resembles what the governor has already proposed doesn't come to pass," Occhiogrosso said. "There is no intention here of any sort of posturing. This is what the administration is required to do."

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