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Number of full-time equivalent state employees continues to rise Jason
Mercier | 7/23/03
DOP’s numbers are based on a headcount of individuals employed by the state (anyone who has worked for any period of time). OFM tracks FTEs, reflecting the number of positions equivalent to full-time employment. The legislature budgets employment figures based on FTEs, not headcounts. When asked about recent DOP data showing a decrease in state employment, Pam Davidson, OFM Senior Budget Assistant, said, "DOP’s headcount doesn’t show how many people are working half-time. Using headcount to show full-time equivalent employment is not accurate." Davidson went on to say that state employment figures are best represented by FTE data. The state plans to add 1,526 new FTEs in the 2003-05 operating budget. Only when excluding nearly 17 percent of the operating budget (Higher Education), are budgeted FTEs expected to decrease. Press accounts last week reporting DOP’s numbers excluded higher education employment. "It is disingenuous to exclude entire agencies and programs when reporting state employment numbers," said Jason Mercier, a budget analyst for the Olympia-based Evergreen Freedom Foundation. "Taxpayers supported more state employees in 2003 than prior years, and it looks like this trend will continue." The FTE increase is present for both the state’s general fund ($23 billion) and total overall spending ($54 billion). Click here for General Fund State FTE figures Fiscal Overall FTE figures Fiscal Figures provided by OFM. K-12 employees are excluded from the education employment figures (they are counted at the local government level, not state). Contact: Jason Mercier | Budget Research Analyst | (360) 956-3482 |