AUGUSTA – Officials say Gov. John Baldacci has employed a hiring freeze since he assumed office in 2003.

But the state has hired more than 200 people just in the last 40 days, so what does “hiring freeze” really mean?

“We hire people every day,” said David Farmer, a Baldacci spokesman. “You can’t run an operation the size of state government, with it’s varied functions and specialties, and have an absolutely zero hiring freeze because you might find yourself with 10 state troopers who are retiring in one year.

He said the term “hiring freeze” was used to describe the process initiated by the governor to slow state spending on employees, rather than an actual end to state hiring.

“The purpose behind this hiring freeze is to save money,” he said. “So if we can even slow down the hiring, that’s significant savings that we can achieve.”

Approval required

Ryan Low, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, said almost all open state government positions require approval before the hiring process can move forward.

“Waivers have to be signed by the top-level administrator and then are processed in our office,” he said. “If we have any questions about justification for the position, we don’t hesitate to ask for more information.”

Low said public safety was the only area where waivers were preapproved for hiring.

Farmer said since last October, the governor’s office has also participated in the approval process.

“The more stringent hiring freeze is dramatic,” he said. “It has taken a tight process and made it very strict indeed.”

Farmer said since Baldacci has taken office, more than 700 positions have been eliminated from state government.

Stephen Bowen, policy analyst at the conservative think-tank Maine Heritage Policy Center and a former state legislator, said many of those spots were likely already empty.

“Oftentimes agencies will keep those positions on their books because they’ll get funded and then those funds are used for something else,” he said. “So to the extent that the governor’s eliminated vacant positions that we were still funding, that’s obviously a good thing.”

Bowen said a hiring freeze is not always the most effective way to reduce costs.

“There are positions that maybe should be filled and there are other agencies that have maybe too many positions,” he said. “We’re prepared to give the governor credit for holding the line on some of these positions.”

‘Very strict freeze’

Tim Belcher, executive director of the Maine State Employees Association, said the freeze is so strict now that the governor has neglected to fill some federally-funded positions.

“It’s very clear there is a very strict hiring freeze on and people are feeling that in the workplaces, in terms of their workloads and trying to provide the services that Mainers need,” he said.

Recently, employees in the Department of Labor have been overwhelmed with calls from Mainers seeking unemployment benefits and state lawmakers questioned the governor’s strict position on hiring.

After visiting local offices, Baldacci approved additional hires, which amount to more than 60 of the 234 approved since the beginning of December.

But for those who feel state government still has room to shrink, Friday’s budget proposal by Baldacci should be welcomed.

Both Low and Farmer said the two-year budget would include “a lot” more layoffs.

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