Lawmaker Calls For Statewide Hiring Freeze

An Ohio lawmaker Wednesday proposed a statewide hiring freeze and a state workforce reduction of 10 percent to help save Ohio money.

Republican state Rep. Ron Young from Lake County said that he thinks the state should reduce its workforce since the private sector has, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported.

Young, who introduced House Bill 317 on Wednesday, said that he would like to impose the hiring freeze through attrition until the state’s current 55,000 employees are cut by 10 percent. He said that when one employee leaves, his job should be filled internally. 

Young also said that there would be exemptions to the proposed hiring freeze, specifically in jobs such s those as State Highway Patrol troopers.

“While the private sector has decreased the number of workers dramatically over the last 10 years, state employment hasn't decreased nearly at that level,” Young said.

Young said that the state also needs to re-evaluate its hiring practices for the future.

"We don't have long term processes in view where we are training our current workforce so they can replace those that are leaving,” Young said.

Chris Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, Ohio’s largest union, said that the proposal would be detrimental to the state.

“You cannot cut your way to success,” Mabe said. “This is just not something to me that is a job creator, and that's what needed at present time in the economic situation that we're in."

A recent investigation by a national government watchdog group found problems with state hiring freezes, Landers reported.

According to the investigation, 32,000 cases involving teacher misconduct in California were left open because of a lack of state employees.

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