The General Assembly adopted a plan on March 29th to close this year's budget deficit of $220 million dollars. The agreement would cut $83 million from more than 300 budget line-items. Meanwhile, the 2016-2017 budget is anticpated to have a $900 million deficit. As a result, cuts are anticipated. While some cuts will hit the Legislative and Judicial branches, many of these cuts will come from agencies within the Executive branch. It appears likely that some agencies will resort to layoffs to meet the budget rescissions.
While it remains uncertain if or when layoffs will be issued, on March 30th the Governor announced that there will be a "very, very substantial number" of layoffs, and Senate Minority Leader Fasano indicated that "The Governor has a short window in which he can act. Any layoffs have to be before June 9th". We will keep you advised of the situation as it develops.
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