October 15, 2008 2:06 PM

Patrick to cut 1,000 jobs
Posted by Jesse Nunesat 2:06 PM

(This article originally appeared in the Boston.com Local News Updates blog)

By Matt Viser, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick is planning to announce this afternoon that 1,000 jobs will be eliminated and at least $700 million will be cut from the budget, according to two sources briefed on the details.

The job reductions will come through a combination of layoffs, not filling open positions, and encouraging current employees to retire, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the governor has not announced his plan.

The governor is also planning to announce that the state will use $200 million in funds from the state’s $1.8 billion reserve account, the sources said. The current state budget relies on about $400 million from the rainy day fund; Patrick would need approval from the Legislature to spend more, and top lawmakers are weighing whether to return for a special session or wait until their next formal session in January.

The governor is also planning to announce a reform of the state’s pension system, but those savings would likely be more long term.

Patrick is planning to announce the cuts at 5 p.m., which will give him a local news broadcast platform so he can speak directly to Massachusetts residents and explain to them how the national and foreign economic chaos has hit home.

He is also planning to meet behind closed doors with top administration officials at 3:30 p.m. to brace them for the cuts.

Patrick has been working with top officials in his administration to develop the targeted, specific reductions. But in public he has kept his pronouncements general, saying only that he plans to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars from the $28.2 billion budget that is only three months old.

Meanwhile, the chief of the state’s judicial system and Attorney General Martha Coakley announced this morning they would voluntarily cut their budgets this year.

Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, and Robert A. Mulligan, the chief justice for administration and management, said in a statement that the judicial branch would cut $30 million from the $642 million it had planned to spend this year. Preliminary plans include a hiring freeze effective this week, cancellation of departmental conferences, and elimination of out-of-state travel. The plan does not include any layoffs.

"Unlike state agencies which have an array of programs, the court system has a single core mission -- the delivery of justice,” Marshall said in a statement. “We are committed to reducing our expenses to the most spare and essential functions necessary to maintain our mission and constitutional obligations."

Coakley, meanwhile, announced this morning that her office would make $500,000 to $1 million in budget cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year. Her budget for the entire fiscal year was $42.2 million.

Coakley said that cutting more could hamper her from collecting revenue.

"The Attorney General's Office plays multiple roles in the commonwealth, both bringing in revenue for the commonwealth and saving taxpayers money," Coakley said in a statement. "As such, we are diligently and carefully reviewing our budget in order to best determine how we can trim our spending while not impeding our ability to recover funds for the commonwealth and to continue to advocate for consumers."

State Auditor Joe DeNucci is asking his employees to take up to seven days of unpaid leave this year, which will save $1.05 million, or about 7 percent of the $15 million in remaining spending this fiscal year.

For the average employee in the 350-person auditor’s office, that would mean a pay cut of about $3,100.

Patrick vowed earlier this month to trim his office budget by 7 percent - which amounts to $600,000 - and requested that other offices match his cuts. The state Legislature responded by agreeing to cut 10 percent, or $9.1 million.

The cuts are triggered by a large revenue shortfall. Pegged just two weeks ago at $400 million, the state on Friday filed a disclosure document for bond investors that indicated revenues would be $800 million to $1.5 billion less than expected.

However, the state’s $3 billion bridge rebuilding program will not be impacted by the budget cuts, according to Bernard Cohen, the state transportation secretary.

“There is no freeze on hiring for those jobs and no hold-up in the funding,” Cohen said yesterday in comments following a Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

Cohen said the eight-year program, expected to fix up to 300 dilapidated bridges, will be paid for through the capital budget.

The state will issue bonds to pay for the repairs. Cohen said Patrick has urged him to move forward as quickly as possible on the repairs, hoping the spending will boost the economy.

Out of the state's 5,500 bridges, 543 are considered structurally deficient. Because so many of the structures are old, the number of deficient bridges continues to grow, even as crews make repairs.

Noah Bierman of the Globe staff contributed to this report.