Rendell lays off 50 to balance budget

The Associated Press

HARRISBURG — The Rendell administration said Monday it is laying off 50 employees to balance a recession-riddled state budget.

Gov. Ed Rendell’s Office of Administration said the layoffs include 19 employees from the Corrections Department and 15 from the Health Department.

Most of the layoffs, 36, were from management ranks. Another 500 jobs have been left vacant and are being eliminated, the administration said.

“It is with deep regret that we announce these furloughs,” Rendell’s secretary of administration, Christian Soura, said in a statement. “This administration has been cutting costs and improving efficiency for nearly eight years; long before the recession hit. However, the continued decline in state revenues and reduced funding from the federal government left us with no other options.”The laid-off employees will be provided with up to 10 days of paid leave.