With his latest staff announcement, state House Speaker Thom Tillis now looks even more disorganized and indecisive than he did after his earlier breaking of a promise to North Carolina taxpayers.
When the Republican first took control of the House in 2010, he promised that his staff would cost considerably less than did his predecessor's. Just a couple of months ago, however, we learned that Tillis had given substantial raises to his staff members in a year of severe budget cutting.
Last week, the speaker said he would trim his staff, laying off some employees and suspending others. By the end of the year, he promises, he'll have spent less than former Democratic speaker Joe Hackney spent.
This looks to us like a desperate political act. Tillis says a speaker's staff workload winds down after sessions end. But there is still a session left on redistricting, another on constitutional amendments, and another one or two could be called at any time. Then, during the interim between sessions, staff must plan for the coming work and conduct constituent work.
And it seems extremely unfair that these employees, after working hard for six months, are suddenly being fired when they will finally have a chance to take a breath. Furthermore, we question whether the professionals who signed on with Tillis were fully informed when they took their jobs that they'd be laid off after session.
The bottom line here is that Tillis looks indecisive, and a few more good people will be out of work and headed for the unemployment lines.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement