Exempt employees still an issue

Even with the layoff last month of 59 exempt employees, the issue is still present in this year's session. I did a story on the topic today here.

Since it was published, the Department of Finance and Administration has said there are only 364 exempts under Gov. Bill Richardson's control, not the 450 there previously were.

Other employee cost issues also are big this session, as the state grapples with a budget crunch, and the Legislature tries to exert itself more over a lame-duck governor. Keep an eye out in the coming days for a story I'm doing on a measure related to the state's hiring freeze.