Group Watch 3/28/2012: Governor Declares Proration
Governor Robert Bentley ordered state agencies to reduce spending from their General Fund appropriations by 10.6 percent. The announcement came at the end of the day last Friday and marks the third consecutive year state programs have suffered double-digit cuts. Alabama’s Constitution prohibits deficit spending and requires the governor to order across the board reductions when appropriations exceed revenues. State Personnel officials say that department officials are already calling for training and directions for instituting layoffs. The state Agriculture Commissioner notified his employees that their salaries would be reduced up to 7.5 percent in lieu of further staff reductions. He has reduced his staff by 25 percent since taking office in January 2011. Since January 2011, there are over 1,600 fewer state employees.
