Albany

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's 2017-18 budget proposal calls for modest but continued attrition of the state workforce, with some of the biggest downsizing coming from human service agencies like the Office for People With Developmental Disabilities and Office of Mental Health.

The lowered counts there are due to a long-term shift from keeping disabled and mentally ill New Yorkers in large state-run institutions to smaller locally based facilities often operated by private nonprofit organizations.

Unions for employees of these agencies are expected to testify about the downsizing during Wednesday's legislative budget hearing on workforce development.

The overall size of New York's state agency workforce under the governor's control is projected to shrink less than 1 percent by 2018.

That's in keeping with trends of the last few years. Since Cuomo took office in 2011 the state agency workforce has declined by almost 10,000 positions, or 8.4 percent.

For state agencies, the budget calls for the workforce to go from 118,809 as of this coming April to 118,673 by the same time in 2018.

Cuomo outlined his workforce projections in a briefing book that came out with his proposed state budget released earlier in January.

His budget narrative noted that about 94 percent of the state workforce is unionized and employees receive an average compensation of $70,740.

"Nearly all agencies have stable workforce levels, with modest attrition reductions expected for the Office of Mental Health (-353) and the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (-253) as streamlining of institutional capacity continues,'' the budget narrative states.

Cuomo's budget also leaves the State and City University systems and the comptroller's and attorney general's offices unchanged with staffing levels of 58,433, 2,663, and 1,839 people, respectively.

The state Office for Information Technology will also lose 179 jobs.

They recently began outsourcing help desk positions, although no state employees lost their positions due to that change.

The Medicaid Inspector General will also shrink by 27 jobs and the Department of Economic Development will be downsized by 5.

Some agencies are slated for expansion, including the Department of Motor Vehicles which will add more than 100 people to implement the Federal Real ID Act that mandates more secure drivers licenses. It also envisions hiring another five people to support an expected expansion of ride-hailing services like Uber outside of New York City.

The Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services expects to add 98 people for airport security as well as cyber protection.

And the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance is adding 73 people to help "ensure safe and secure'' homeless shelters. That move could have political overtones as Cuomo has criticized Mayor Bill de Blasio over his handling of the homeless crisis in New York City.

CSEA recently criticized the Cuomo administration, contending it hasn't replaced enough direct care workers to make up for recent retirements. The state has rebutted that contention.

rkarlin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5758 • @RickKarlinTU