LePage wants to cut 20% of state government obs

Press Herald

Gov. Paul LePage wants to cut about 2,300 jobs from the state workforce during the next two-year budget cycle, according to an internal administration memo circulated by a top adviser.

The governor has set a ceiling target of 9,500 state employees, the memo said. That would require a decrease of nearly 20 percent.

As of Tuesday, there were 11,810 executive branch positions on the state’s payroll, said David Heidrich, a spokesman for the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services. That figure does not include employees of the Maine National Guard, Maine Turnpike Authority, state Legislature, Maine Judicial Branch, the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System, the Finance Authority of Maine and some other quasi-independent agencies, Heidrich said.