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| State workers say inadequate staffing cause for concern |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/28/2005 |
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State workers expressed alarm last Monday about inadequate staffing at state agencies and high turnover rates they say are making it harder to provide services to Oklahomans. More than two dozen workers called on lawmakers to boost funding for state agencies by up to $40 million to reduce high turnover rates and increase staffing levels at state prisons they said are unsafe. "We need more people," said Laura Dettle, a corrections officer at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McCloud. "It's a dangerous situation. It's hard to do our job." Oklahoma has the fourth highest incarceration rate in the nation, but the Department of Corrections' budget has been cut from a high of $403 million to $379 million in 2004. "We have not been a priority," said Rodney Hall, a social services specialist at the Department of Human Services. "We do more with less and we do it better than we ever have before." Gary Jones, executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, said lawmakers have not restored $160 million in cuts that state agencies endured when the state suffered a budget shortfall three years ago. "State employees are starting to become numbers. There's just not enough money going into the system," Jones said. Royce Harder, a worker at the Office of Juvenile Affairs, said the agency's appropriation has been slashed from $107.4 million in 2002 to $92.8 million this year. Staff and funding reductions have made it difficult to keep qualified workers, Harder said. "It isn't worth what they get paid to work with these juveniles. We really need to address that turnover," he said. Jones said the $40 million OPEA is seeking is a fraction of the more than $300 million needed to bring salary and staffing levels up to where they should be at state agencies. While state spending on public schools, higher education and Medicaid has increased since 2001, spending on all other services has decreased, Jones said. Inadequate revenue has made it harder to recruit qualified employees, especially new college graduates, he said. Jones also called on lawmakers to return state workers to the "rule of 80," where they could retire when their age and years of service total 80. State workers currently are working under a rule of 90. Jones said workers will be at the state Capitol for the next three weeks lobbying for higher funding levels, culminating on April 8, when workers will encourage lawmakers to accompany them to work. |
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