How to Save $1 Billion Without Even Trying    Think Virginia lawmakers are serious about restraining state government spending? Consider this: Simply freezing 7,627 vacant positions could have saved $1 billion in the next two-year budget!   As the economy flirts with a recession caused by a housing fiasco that our leaders should have seen coming, Virginia's lawmakers avoid making the hard choices that their counterparts in the business world have no choice but to grapple with.   After a prolonged struggle to patch up the current two-year budget, The General Assembly passed a $77 billion spending plan for the next two years that is fully $5 billion higher. Spending will increase almost seven percent -- yet lawmakers called the session difficult because money was so tight.   Only people in government would have such a feeling.   There is every reason to believe that when the General Assembly comes back to a full session in January next year, the state will be faced with continued “shortfalls” in state revenues. "Shortfall" is the term applied when government plans to spend way more money than in the previous budget but the revenues don't flow in as optimistically anticipated.   During this year’s General Assembly session, an obvious measure to staunch state spending would have been to “freeze” all vacant job positions for the upcoming two- year budget. The Democrat Governor of Arizona took such an action in February, but no one in Virginia even thought to do it.   The average annual cost for a state job, salary plus benefits, is $68,743. So, how much can be saved by simply not filling the jobs which are currently vacant?   With the help of Delegate Dave Albo’s office, I have found some fascinating numbers that show the huge savings are available.   Last December 31, there were 8,927 vacant job positions not counting faculty at our state universities.  As a former business owner, I would readily freeze the academic jobs as well. Our institutions of higher learning are considered independent so only they can decide what to do with these positions. But that doesn't mean that the General Assembly has to fund them. To tide the state over during the economic downturn, the legislature could withhold funding for a substantial percentage, say 75 percent, if not all of those vacant university positions. But it didn't.   Of the 8,927 vacant non-faculty positions that were vacant last December 31, about 1,000 positions are allocated to prisons, jails and the State Police. These public safety positions have been left out of the following calculations.   Let’s take 300 more of these vacant positions and label them as “critical” for the management of our state government – key managers. All other job openings -- all 7,627 of them -- should be on the table. These vacant positions should be immediately frozen and kept frozen until such time as our economy turns around and state tax revenues justifies filling them.   Freezing those 7627 vacant positions would save an incredible $524.3 million a year -- or more than $1 billion during the two-year budget beginning July 1st.   Now, a further analysis of the state employment numbers shows something truly fascinating.   From December 31, 2006 to December 31, 2007, when it was clear that Virginia was heading into economic turbulence, the state hired 3,949 additional people. That increase in employment added $271.5 million to our state spending at the very same time when our elected officials knew the state would have to cut expenditures.   If the state really wanted to run its operations more like a business or a family, as it should, it would never have added $271 million in additional payroll just as we were entering an economic slowdown. And, for sure, instead of taking monies from the Rainy Day Fund, from teachers and universities, and from our transportation needs in the two years ahead, the General Assembly could have simply frozen 7,627 of the 8,927 “vacant” non-faculty positions and the budget “problem” would have been resolved.   Why is it that our elected officials won’t bring a reasoned business approach to the management of state government?   Next year we are faced once again with a race for Governor. Hopefully that campaign will offer a robust and healthy debate on our government can be better managed. Freezing vacant government jobs as outlined above is one reasonable management tool that was left on the table this year. Our next governor should not do so.   -- April 7, 2008