Mass. Public Health Lay-Offs
Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials have begun notifying workers of layoffs as part of an effort to slash payroll and cut 50 jobs. According to an April 26 staff memo, obtained by the State House News Service, Commissioner John Auerbach told employees the department needed to move ahead with layoffs to meet its budget target based on the spending plan filed by the governor. “Unfortunately, this means that we will need to implement a reduction in force plan that will result in about 50 involuntary layoffs that will happen over the next week,’’ Auerbach wrote.
According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, the original House Ways and Means Committee budget cuts funding for public health programs by 6.5 percent compared to this year’s fiscal budget, and funding for public health services has been cut by more than 20 percent compared to pre-recession levels.
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