Here’s a closer look at how the 2007-08 Executive Budget stacks up for some state agencies that would see significant staffing changes:
Scroll down for SED, DEC, DOH, DOL, OMIG, OMH, OMRDD.

Education
The governor is trying to kick start New York’s schools into high gear and would boost staffing at the state Education Department by 97 new positions.

It’s likely the bulk (77) of those are related to a new Enhanced Accountability Plan that will establish improvement targets for school districts and an enhanced education accountability system. “Promoting Strong Leadership” would require the state Board of Regents to assess the effectiveness of school superintendents and principals.

While the funding boost for staffing at the office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) is up $20.8 million, the budget only indicates seven new staff. PEF is seeking further information to clarify this apparent discrepancy.
The budget also would add seven positions for cultural education, and six for higher education and the professions.

Environmental Conservation
The state Department of Environmental Conservation would see an increase of 109 positions from the adjusted level for FY 2006-07.

Of those, 47 would be in Air and Water Quality Management, 19 in Forest and Land Resources, 18 in Solid and Hazardous Waste Management and 11 in Environmental Enforcement. Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources would pick up eight positions and six would be added to administration.

A new Office of Climate Change with a staff of 12 is proposed to implement a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Although it is not specified, it appears likely this new office will operate under the Bureau of Air and Water Quality Management and the staff will come from new positions budgeted there.

The existing Bottle Bill would be expanded to require deposits on non-carbonated beverages. Those additional revenues would go to the Environmental Protection Fund to pay for a new Pollution Prevention Institute. Other fees and permit costs would be increased or added to pay for various monitoring, and inspections, including those for dam safety.

Health
The state Health Department (DOH) would gain 90 employees.

Administration and Executive Direction would see the greatest gain, 29, followed by Health Care Financing with 14, and Health Care Standards and Surveillance with 13. Community Health would add 11 positions. Managed Care, and the Office of Medicaid Management would each gain seven. Five would be added for Labs and Research, and Child Health Insurance would add four.

The Health Care Financing Program was supposed to add 11 people in 2006-07, but lost 12 instead. This budget calls for adding 14 in 2007-08.

The budget would add $630,000 for Helen Hayes Hospital over last year’s allocation. But $1.6 million less is budgeted this year for Lower Hudson Veterans Home.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute would receive the same funding level as last year. RPCI has gained 65 staff over the past year and is scheduled to maintain that level.

The budget would add $4 million to boost contract funding for the Medicaid Management Information System Program.

Labor
According to the new budget proposal, the state Labor Department cut its staff by 151 positions last year, but it doesn’t say where they were eliminated.

They may be related to the closing last year of the call center in Manhattan.

For the new fiscal year, the budget provides for 61 new positions, but eliminates 51 others, for a net gain of just 10.

And, in fact, 10 is exactly the number of new hires envisioned for the Bureau of Labor Standards to boost enforcement of the state’s minimum wage law.

That bureau is supposed to get 29 other new positions, but the budget doesn’t say what work they will do.

And 22 new hires are proposed for DOL’s occupational safety and health services.

The 51 staff cuts are to come from administration (with 36) and employment and training (15).

Medicaid Inspector General
The new governor is putting a high priority on stopping Medicaid fraud and would add 157 staff for Medicaid Audit and Fraud Prevention at the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG).

The new staff are expected to include: 100 auditors, 35 administrators, 12 in information technology, six to develop data mining tools and four to expand the internal data base on fraud.

Other features of the governor’s proposal include enactment of bills to increase whistleblower protections and access to tax and workers’ comp records, plus a NYS False Claims Act and a “Martin Act,” both aimed at building the arsenal of legal weapons against fraud.

Mental Health
The state Office of Mental Health would add 405 staff, with 335 of them in Adult Services.

However, the 250 people who were supposed to be hired for Adult Services under last year’s budget never materialized because legislation was not enacted to allow involuntary civil commitment to OMH facilities of violent sexual offenders after they finish serving their prison sentences.

This new budget again assumes such legislation will be enacted and hundreds of additional staff will be needed in the OMH Sexual Offender Treatment Program.

The OMH forensic program would pick up 38 more staff under this budget.

The budget would raise OMH funding by $2 million to pay for additional mental health services in state prisons, including the development of a Regional Mental Health Unit for those with serious and persistent mental illness.

The budget would boost research staffing by 15 — 10 at the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI) and five at the NY Psychiatric Institute.

And the budget would add $7.7 million for capital improvements at NKI including a new children’s magnetic resonance imaging suite.

While the budget does not call for closing a specific state psychiatric center, it says inpatient services need to be “right sized” to become more cost effective and to better meet regional needs. PEF and other “stakeholders” will be given a voice in deciding how that should be done.

The budget provides for 11 additional OMH staff for a joint initiative with DOH to expand medication management in the Psychiatric Clinical Knowledge Enhancement System.

And six new OMH staff will be added for expansion of Medicaid compliance and enforcement in conjunction with OMIG.

Funds are also provided for OMH to create demonstration programs with DOH to coordinate health and mental health services.

Mental Retardation
The state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) would add 237 staff.

The budget shows a majority (143) of those new hires would be in community services: 103 to support expansion of the NYS CARES program and 40 to support the Autism Initiative at the Institute for Basic Research.

However, the money budgeted to pay for those 143 additional staff is down by $3.9 million, so PEF is asking for information about how that would work.

The budget would add 74 staff to support expanded capacity for 40 more emergency admissions to developmental centers.

And in the area of central coordination and support, the budget calls for hiring 20 new state employees to replace information technology consultant staff.

The Communicator March 2007

Features
STATE BUDGET:
- Spitzer's workforce plan
- Lawmakers reform budget process
- Go Public
- DOT
- OCFS
- DOCS
- SED
- DEC
- DOH
- DOL
- OMIG
- OMH
- OMRDD
Threats put parole office on edge

Departments
President's Message
You Said It: Letters to the editor
Point-Counterpoint
Retirees In Action
Getting To Know PEF
Health Notes
Membership Benefits &Travel

Union Matters
Convention Delegates 07 Info
Marchers rally for Suny Upstate
Nurses: Lobby Day is May 22
Stopping attacks at Bronx PC
March is Woman's history month
O'Connel loses Senate bid
Accident takes council leader
Vacancy; Admin. Exec.

Oops! The February issue mistakenly identified member Sue Jeffords as retired; incorrectly referred to PEF Division 239 as Division 283; and omitted that retired thoroughbred C.L. Rib ran 93 races and hit the tote board 51 times.

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