God knows who works for Kentucky

 (Continued from home page)

    “Our goal is simple: We want a clearer picture of every person working full-time for state government, whether they are career employees, political appointees, elected officials, or private contractors.  If their salary is paid by the state, we want to know about it, without exception.”
    Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear HB 387, which was sponsored by state Rep. Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, will give the speaker, Hoover or any other lawmaker that picture “without exception.”
    The new law requires Personnel to report quarterly the number of executive branch employees in three statutory categories – KRS chapters 16, 18A and 151B. Chapter 16 employees are the Kentucky State Police, of which there were 872 as of mid-April, when the first report was submitted. (Second reports were submitted last week, after the Gazette’s press deadline). Chapter 18A covers merit employees and certain non-merit employees, like those working under federal funding initiatives, in the executive branch. There are 30,433 of them. And Chapter 151B is staff of the Department for Workforce Investment – an even 500 folks work there.
    Finance and Administration is to supply the LRC with the numbers of full-time equivalent workers who are under contract with the state and have been for at least 90 days. The equivalent of 2,729.64 people work for the commonwealth under master agreement and personal service contracts.
    Grand total: 34,554.64 people work for Kentucky.
    And, we know there are seven constitutional officers.
    New grand total: 34,561.64 people work for Kentucky.
    Mmmm, not quite. That computation has a lot of exemptions. Like people who work at the Kentucky Horse Park and KET. And the staff at the Council on Postsecondary Education and in the governor’s office. And Kentucky State Fair Board employees, along with workers at the Public Service Commission and the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. Also absent from the tally are people who work under memoranda of agreement and who work for the legislative and judicial branches.
    With so many exceptions and exemptions, the question becomes: How many people work for Kentucky? The answer is: No one really knows. Yet the implications for this ignorance can be expensive.
    Without an accurate number of state employees and contractors of all stripes, citizens could be paying for redundant programs or for costly programs with few benefits. An inaccurate number also disallows citizens from monitoring waste, fraud and abuse (with thanks to former Gov. Ernie Fletcher for that phrase).
    Very importantly, inaccurate numbers deny lawmakers an empirical base from which to craft a budget. Indeed, Speaker Stumbo said he would support an effort to clarify the legislative intent of HB 387 to address this matter.
    “We need this information to better track changes in the size of government. The more we know, the better we can craft future budgets and maintain our watchdog role over the executive branch,” said Speaker Stumbo.
    An easy first stop may be at the state’s retirement systems: Those agencies get monthly reports on system participants from the employers.
    “We feel like we get good numbers already, because in order for employees to participate in our system, they have to be reported by their employer,” said Mike Burnside, executive director of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.
    Though these reports might corral some figures exempted in HB 387, the reports do not capture contractors employed by the KRS-covered agencies, because the contractors are not allowed to participate in the pension plan.
    To complicate matters further, there is no standard for counting pension plan members. For example, the Education Professional Standards Board requires at least some of its contractors to contribute to the Kentucky Teacher Retirement System, which is not part of the KRS.
    Speaker Stumbo is right to say the intent of HB 387 needs to be clarified. Without knowing how many employees it has, a business can’t operate efficiently – and neither can government.

    Laura Cullen Glasscock, editor and publisher, with a disclaimer: I have a contract this year with the Education Professional Standards Board to evaluate teacher portfolios. The contract requires my participation in the Kentucky Teacher Retirement System.
   Glasscock may be reached at glasscock@kentuckygazette.com.