Meg Whitman

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The fact is state revenues have declined to nearly the same level as they were in 2004-2005 and the size of state government must be reduced accordingly. To return the bureaucracy back to its 2004-05 level, I have proposed eliminating about 40,000 government positions—from today’s unsustainable 356,000 down to 313,000. The best way to achieve this goal is to eliminate positions after people voluntarily leave them for retirement or other jobs. About 10,000 people retire from state government every year and the number has increased recently. By eliminating positions after people leave them and only rehiring mission critical positions, we can effectively reduce the costs of government and protect vital public services. Contrary to what the leaders of the CNA would have you believe, we can balance the budget and reduce the size of the bureaucracy without requiring mass layoffs of government workers.