The leaders of state agencies are looking for ways they can trim millions of dollars from their operations. Governor Chet Culver blames the tight economy and disaster expenses for his request to cut 40-million from the state budget.
New Department of Human Services Director Gene Gessow says the target for his organization is 5.7-million dollars. "That is going to be very difficult," Gessow said. "We have a target of next Tuesday evening to be finished. I’m meeting with department staff (Friday) to discuss it. I’ve already met with them once, we’ve talked about how we’re going to approach finding that money, but we have not yet come to any solutions."
Charlie Krogmeier, director of the state Department of Management, says it’s doubtful any state employees will lose their jobs. Gessow refused to say if there might be staffing changes within the D.H.S. "
The only thing that I know for sure is that the Governor has given us the opportunity to find the best way that works, rather than giving us a rule that it has to be done one way or the other," Gessow said. "So, I need to take advantage of that flexibility and see what opportunities it creates for us."
Culver has asked the Department of Corrections to cut 11-million dollars from its budget. The target is 7.5-million for the Board of Regents and $600,000 for Workforce Development.