Pa. adds 501 jobs since hiring freeze

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than 500 people have been added to the state payroll since Gov. Ed Rendell instituted a hiring freeze in the fall, according to a report prepared for Republican lawmakers.

About 80 percent of those 501 hires were for public safety positions exempted from the statewide freeze announced Sept. 16, administration officials told The Morning Call of Allentown.

The legislative analysis looked at hires made between Sept. 20 and Dec. 22. In all, the report said the positions listed will cost taxpayers $12.35 million through the end of the fiscal year that ends June 30.

A spokesman for the Democratic governor told the newspaper that about 100 of the hires came after the state granted exemptions.

“Remember that the public safety agencies were never covered by the freeze,” Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said, “so the operative number is the 100 or so who have received exemptions from us.”

Exemptions are granted on a case-by-case basis, Ardo said, for “positions that need to be filled for the continued operation of programs.”

Several of the hires are being paid more then $100,000.