Palin ends hiring freeze

Gov. Sarah Palin is lifting her administration's hiring freeze a month early, but critics say it never should have happened in the first place.

Palin, a Republican, announced the hiring freeze during her State of the State speech in January to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature after prices for North Slope oil fell dramatically.

The freeze did not apply a number of critical jobs, such as public safety or pioneer home employees. Subsequently, the administration added other jobs to the list of critical jobs or issued waivers to allow hiring anyway.

Freeze critic Jim Duncan, business manager of the Alaska State Employees Association, questioned the effectiveness of the freeze and said he was happy to see it end.

"It's more of a political statement and a philosophy than it is an action that will have major cost savings," he said.

Rep. Cathie Muñoz, R-Juneau, said the freeze was apprpriate at the time, but was glad it was being lifted.

"The state was facing a very difficult financial situation, with oil below $50 a barrel throughout the session," she said.

Top Palin staffers, including Chief of Staff Mike Nizich and Office of Management and Budget Director Karen Rehfeld said the freeze accomplished its goal of saving the state money and limiting the deficit this year, lessening the need to dip into state savings accounts. Rehfeld said the freeze will likely save $12 million, through the exact amount won't be known until after the end of the fiscal year June 30.

The freeze "will greatly assist in reducing the amount necessary from savings," Nizich said in a memo to department heads lifting the freeze on June 1. It's ending early to let departments begin the hiring process before the new budget year begins July 1, he said.

The freeze was unpopular in Juneau, where many state employees are located, and the wisdom of the strategy for saving money was questioned by many members of the Legislature.

"Hiring freezes of any sort are counterproductive, I don't think they work," said Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau.

He said state government should not be employing workers they don't need in the first place, and job turnover should not determine necessity.

"It's a hell of a way to manage a business or government through attrition," he said.

Legislators questioned the effectiveness of the freeze given the number of waivers Nizich issued; by Nizich, a total of 354 with another 66 pending this week.

Rep. Mike Hawker, D-Anchorage, told the Anchorage Daily News that the number of waivers raised questions about the effectiveness of the freeze, saying it "sounds like an exercise in futility."

"There were so many waivers, I don't know what kind of impact it really had," said Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau.

Rehfeld said that despite the large number of waivers, the freeze had a significant impact. Many other jobs were held open without waivers being sought, she said.

"Commissioners only sent over request waivers for positions that were high priority," she said.

Muñoz said the freeze seems to have worked.

"It appears there was some savings from the hiring freeze, I think the objective was achieved," she siad.

Duncan said he did not doubt that the freeze had some effect as the union saw fewer new employees signing up for orientation. At the same time, he said, that probably came with a reduction in services to the public, he said.

"I've never been a fan of freezes," he said, but acknowledged they force managers to assess the need for each position.

Rehfeld said hiring delays caused by the waiver process may have saved the state additional money.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at523-2250 or by e-amil at patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.