DHHS workers get layoff notices

AUGUSTA — A state employees union representative said Gov. Paul LePage’s administration has notified workers in the Maine Office of Aging and Disability Services that it wants to lay them off, likely signaling a priority in the governor’s two-year budget to be released on Friday.

It’s just an initial move from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, with an undetermined number of workers affected. But they’re still on the job and the state’s budget will likely look much different when it is finalized by the Maine Legislature this spring.

The Republican governor’s budget is due to the Maine Legislature by Friday’s end, and for months, he has hinted in radio interviews and public appearances over the last half-year that it will contain reductions in the state workforce and income tax cuts.

On Friday, Mary Anne Turowski, the director of politics and legislation for the Maine State Employees Association, said “a number” of workers in the Office of Aging and Disability Services had received notices of layoff from the administration, “but it could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

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