Idaho Looks at Cutting 458 Jobs

Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter is, like most governors these days, looking for ways to trim the state budget. He’s looking at cutting 458 state jobs as one part of a larger spending cut plan. Many of these jobs are vacant, and in some cases have been vacant for a while, but some of the cuts will involve layoffs. For example, the Governor is proposing eliminating the Department of Parks and Recreation and shifting its responsibilities to the Department of Lands, which would eliminate 25 positions. Currently Idaho has 18,000 state employees.