The state Department of Environmental Protection soon may not have enough people to carry out its most basic duties of testing air and water, permitting businesses, and protecting the environment if the proposed House of Representatives budget wins out in the ongoing deliberations.
The House is proposing a 14 percent budget cut to the agency, which would drop the number of full-time equivalent staff to 720, its lowest level in decades. In 2009, the agency had a staff level of 1,004.
Now, it's quite possible these budget cuts are too draconian, that's not the issue. It's the fact that the story is rather one-sided - including the "quelle surprise" title - that's the issue IMHO. Buried on the second page was this factoid:
While the recession has cut the number of business applications for environmental permits from about 3,000 to 2,000 a year, the state is beginning to see an increase and needs staff to start handling the additional requests, Kimmell said.So, the number of permits that the office handles has fallen by 50%, but staffing is only cut ~ 25%, and the budget is only cut 14%. Things don't seem to add up, do they? But ZOMG! Those evil Republicans in charge want to SLASH TEH BUDGET! They sure hate the environment, don't they...
Oh, wait, this is MA, isn't it???
That is all.
5 comments:
BUT Jay.... It's thoose lowest level emplyees that actually do the work involved. The rest of the staff is needed to monitor and manage the "workers'.
........which is how they can reduce staff by 25% but only 14% of the budget.
You can't possibly expect the state to risk losing the vast knowledge of the system possessed by the management by laying off the managers do you???
So when workload increases because of new permits required ( just as soon as they can invent some more rules) you'll understand why they will need more workers ......right???
If they cut the clowns who announced CO2 and Nitrogen are toxic pollutants that must be regulated and taxed, it would be win-win for everybody.
They will lay off the workers and keep the "stupervisors"...
Ahhh, karma, she is a bitch. The MA DEP is run like a day care center, and not a nice one, either, but more like one of those ones that's in a butcher shop's basement, where the kids get impetigo twice a year. I spent 10 years dealing with them and their equivalents in ME, RI and NH. The MA DEP was a top-shelf shitshow. Getting anything done in a timely manner is not a function of staffing levels, but rather of efficiency- I'd like to see the DEP gutted sufficient to the point where the staff has to actually work 40 hours a week.
NIT PICK
Going from 3000 to 2000 is a 33.33% reduction.
However going from 2000 to 3000 is a 50% increase.
It is the original number the the newer one is compared to.
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