Connecticut Adds 800 Workers During Supposed Hiring Freeze

The Connecticut comptroller’s office says state government has added 824 full-time employees since Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell ordered a hiring freeze in May of 2008.

The new hirings have come at a variety of state agencies at a cost of more than $14 million. And they don’t include hundreds of employees hired by the University of Connecticut, the UConn Health Center and the Judicial Branch, whose hiring and payroll are not overseen by Comptroller Nancy Wyman.

A spokesman for the governor notes that she doesn’t control judicial, legislative and higher education jobs. And Rell has allowed exceptions for jobs affecting public health and safety, and positions that save money in overtime and contracting costs.