LA early retirement geared to reducing state workforce

Government officials in Louisiana hope that an early retirement law passed during the 2006 legislative session will eliminate hundreds of jobs from the state workforce.

From the Baton Rouge Business Report:

Louisiana will begin offering state workers an early retirement option next year in hopes that payroll costs, and the annual budget, will deflate accordingly. Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed the legislation last week, prompted largely by last fall's hurricanes. Hordes of state workers either lost the buildings where they once worked, or lost everything else. Additionally, many are moving out of the state or are suffering from various ailments, says Rep. Warren Triche, the Chackbay Democrat who sponsored the act. The program will offer early retirement to members of the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System who are at least 50 years old with 10 years of service. If a state employee decides to take advantage of the program, he or she will receive a retirement benefit equal to as much as 2% of their average compensation multiplied by the number of years of creditable service. Only one of every three positions left vacant by the program will be refilled, Triche says, unless the commissioner of administration and the secretary of state Civil Service decide to retain the post. The program would run from Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2008. Anticipated savings equal roughly $4 million.