To Mirror Population
Panel Will Diversify State Work Force

By REUVEN BLAU

Governor Pataki has signed legislation creating a 15-member task force charged with increasing minority representation among state employees as many current workers retire within the next few years.

GOVERNOR PATAKI: 'A legacy to be proud of.'

The bill, which had broad union support, cited a report released in April 2005 by the State Assembly Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, which showed that since 1991 the Hispanic share of the state work force had declined by 1,000 employees and African-Americans had lost 8,836 jobs.

Opposite Trends

Those decreases came at a time when the state's minority population had swelled. Over the past 15 years, the Hispanic population has grown by 33 percent and the African-American by 13 percent. Daniel E. Wall, the state Civil Service Commissioner, at the time questioned the accuracy of the report's findings. "It contains inaccuracies, omissions of facts, misconceptions and outright falsehoods," he contended at an Assembly hearing last year.

The majority of the state work force, he noted, is located in the upstate Capital District, where African-Americans make up 4.9 percent of the available labor pool and Hispanics 2.2 percent.

"It's a great step forward in addressing the disparity that's been documented," Guillermo A. Martinez, the Legislative Director for Assemblyman Peter R. Rivera, said of the bill's enactment. Mr. Rivera was one of the bill's prime sponsors and heads the State Assembly's Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force.

A justification memo attached to the measure noted that many state workers are presently eligible for retirement. "The legislation mandates the creation of a task force that will work on increasing diversity in the state work force as current population ages-out and employment opportunities become available," the note stated.

The task force will include nine members appointed by the Governor and three each named by the Speaker of the State Assembly and by the Majority Leader of the State Senate. The members will serve three-year terms without compensation and the panel will file annual reports.

"We hope the Governor can move quickly to appoint the members of the commission," Mr. Martinez said. "Everybody talks about the legacy that Governor Pataki is leaving behind or not leaving behind. We think this is something he will be proud of years after he leaves office."

The Governor's enactment of the bill, however, came after he vetoed a bill in July that would have required the state Department of Civil Service to report biannually the number of provisional employees on the state payroll for both nine and 18 months or more.

Mr. Rivera and other activists contend that the state routinely hires minorities as provisional workers, denies them permanent status, and then eliminates their jobs without warning after hiring private consultants.