CAMPAIGN ’88 : Massachusetts Job Cap

In response to Massachusetts’ worsening tax shortfall, the Dukakis Administration has imposed a cap on the size of the state work force and ordered agency heads to plan for cuts in staffing.

Frank Keefe, secretary of Administration and Finance, said Friday that the policy is not a hiring freeze because agency heads will be allowed to fill some positions emptied through attrition.

In a memorandum to Cabinet secretaries, Keefe said “agencies must take action immediately to assure that they will be able to reach staffing levels that can be supported” by the budget being drafted by the Legislature.

According to Keefe, Dukakis personally endorsed the plan earlier last week after it was discussed at several Cabinet meetings. Certain key agencies--including the departments of Correction, Mental Health and Revenue--will be allowed some expansion to meet the priority goals of the governor and the Legislature, Keefe said.

The personnel directive is part of the Dukakis strategy for dealing with a slowdown in state tax collections that has put the spotlight on Dukakis’ ability to manage government spending, which is one of the prime credentials he has claimed in his campaign for the presidential nomination.

As recently as Wednesday, the official projection of tax collections was revised downward by more than $300 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. For next year, the administration’s latest revisions in revenues anticipate $200 million less than when Dukakis submitted his original $11.9-billion budget plan in January.