State workforce reduction still meets Scott’s goal

It's been over a year since we checked in on Gov. Rick Scott's promise to reduce the state workforce by 5 percent. In 2013, we gave Scott a Promise Kept because the state Legislature enacted Scott's goal.

We decided to check on the most recent numbers. We found that this one is still a Promise Kept.

We should note there are several different ways to measure the state workforce, but all show roughly the same trend.

We've focused on the number of positions authorized and funded by the state budget. Here's what we found for the five previous fiscal years:

• 2010-11: 126,728.50
• 2011-12: 122,235.75
• 2012-13: 117,881.75
• 2013-14: 114,481.50
• 2014-15: 114,444.57

Using these numbers, the state workforce has declined by 9.6 percent, more than meeting Scott's goal. We rate this Promise Kept.