Paterson: Nearly 900 state layoffs by year's end

ALBANY - Nearly 900 state workers will be laid off by year's end to balance this year's budget, Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday.

The state agencies with the most pink slips include the departments of Environmental Conservation, 150; Transportation, 100; Parks, 90; State Police, 90 and Motor Vehicles, 80, the governor said on WOR radio in Manhattan.

The layoffs, which will begin next month, total 898, or less than half the 2,000 he had predicted on Oct. 12.

Paterson's move is aimed at saving $250 million in the $136-billion state budget but is bound to be fought in court by the Civil Service Employees Association, Public Employees Federation and other state unions.

They have said the layoffs violate an agreement signed by the Paterson administration last year promising no terminations through this year in return for union support for an early retirement program and less generous retirement benefits for new hires.

"I am sorry that I have to do it, but I feel I was forced into it," Paterson said Thursday, blaming the unions for rejecting his plans for unpaid furloughs and a delay of one week's pay.

Paterson said he ordered agency commissioners to spare essential workers where possible. He said reductions at the Department of Motor Vehicles would mean drivers will wait longer for driver's licenses, the Department of Environmental Conservation will stop participating in the federal Superfund program and the Parks Department will close two golf courses.

On Long Island, the impact of layoffs will likely be minimal because many state workers are employed by SUNY and the State Insurance Fund, both of which are exempt from Paterson's plan. Others care for the developmentally disabled so they are considered essential workers.

The last time New York laid off large numbers of workers was in the mid-1990s under Gov. George Pataki.