As a recent item from the always excellent PolitiFact Virginia noted, Virginia state government's payroll has grown during the past couple of years. Since June, 2009 — when the state had 119,851 full-time equivalents — the rolls have swelled by 615.
That probably comes as a surprise to many Virginians, who have heard nothing from the political class but doom and gloom about the state budget and how very, very deep the cuts in spending have been. In fact, the state budget has grown every single year, and is larger now than it ever has been. The employment figures reflect that.
To be sure, state employment has not grown as it once did. In the past two decades, state employment grew 20 percent — but it grew only 1 percent during the second of those two decades. What's more, the composition of the workforce has shifted significantly. Since 1999, the number of at-will employees — the small cohort of gubernatorial appointees — has declined 18 percent. "Classified," or regular, state employee levels have increased only 1 percent. During that same period, the number of college faculty has grown 47 percent. This likely reflects not only a shift in priorities but also the fact that faculty salaries can be supplemented by non-state dollars.
In a lineup against other states, Virginia looks pretty good. The nationwide average is 1.8 state employees for every 100 residents. Virginia, with 1.6 state workers for every 100 residents, is ranked 28th — slightly below the average. For comparison purposes, Hawaii has the most state employees per 100 residents (a whopping 4.3). Nevada, Arizona, Illinois and Florida have the fewest (1.0).
Rankings can be misleading. The tallest kid in kindergarten is by no means tall compared with an NBA roster. But he is tall for his cohort — and that counts for something.
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