Ohio aims to save $67M with 554 JFS cuts

Employees learned of early-retirement incentives Friday.

COLUMBUS (AP) — The state agency that oversees food stamps and health insurance for the poor is eliminating about 554 jobs to comply with Gov. Ted Strickland’s order that the agency reduce spending by $67.5 million.

The cuts at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services aren’t expected to hurt services or programs, said Michael Colbert, the agency’s chief financial officer.

“We’ve structured this so it won’t be felt by [consumers ],” Colbert said Friday.

The reduction represents about 14 percent of the agency’s 3,900 workers.

Under the plan, 180 positions will be abolished and 254 vacancies will not be filled. An additional 120 employees are expected to take an early retirement offer. Nearly all the positions are in the Columbus area.

Employees were notified about the early retirement incentive Friday and have until July 5 to accept it.

The agency has an annual budget of about $17.1 billion and manages state unemployment benefits, food stamps and Medicaid, the state-federal program that helps pay for health care for the needy, aged and disabled.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents many of the agency’s union employees, said deeper management cuts should have been made.

“Our members are front-line employees who provide services to the public. If you want to reduce the impact on customer service, you shouldn’t be eliminating our positions,” said Bruce Wyngard, the association’s operations director.

The agency’s cuts are part of Strickland’s overall plan to plug a projected budget shortfall. The administration has put the figure at between $733 million and $1.9 billion by June 2009.

The governor has told agencies that cuts should not affect critical services. In all, about 2,700 of the state’s 60,000-plus workers are expected to lose their jobs.