Our legislative delegation would like to address the misunderstandings made by letter writers regarding our initiative to reduce the size of the state work force through attrition — not layoffs — as a means of cutting state spending and providing tax relief to overburdened taxpayers.

In dramatic fashion, one writer from Berkeley would have people believe workers would be fired for no apparent reason when this clearly would not be the case. These types of distortions are one of the primary reasons why many in the Legislature have been hesitant to broach this topic. Regardless, we feel there is just too much at stake for taxpayers for us to sit by and do nothing.

The letter writer charged that "politicians throw around numbers of layoffs they would like to see to save the state money without any thought to who it is they would be firing and what effect that would have on this state's residents." Had he taken the time to review our legislation, he would have seen that it calls for a phased-in downsizing of the executive branch, which has increased by 14,000 employees over the past six years. The average state employee costs taxpayers more than $62,000 per year, including pension and health benefits.

The state has seriously mismanaged its finances with regard to its work force. We believe this has significantly contributed to higher taxes and a higher cost of living. One of the most egregious examples is how, in 2002, the state offered early retirement to thousands of employees at great expense to the taxpayers, yet still managed to put an additional 14,000 employees on the payroll since the year 2000.

On average, 5,000 employees a year have left their state service over the past decade. Our bill calls for 3,500 positions a year, over a four-year period, to be reclassified. It's not difficult to see how the state work force can be reduced substantially without anyone losing their job. After being implemented over the four-year period, our bill is estimated to save the state upwards of $1 billion per year.

While they may not agree with the process, downsizing through attrition is a reality that all working-class people in the private sector understand is part of business today. Our constituents point to how infuriated they are to see how state employees are shielded from this reality, while taxes and spending continue to increase without any consideration to the average taxpayer. We agree and are trying to do something about it.

We could not help but notice how the letter writer pointed to former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman as the reason for our state's deep financial problems. But he neglected to mention the unprecedented level of state debt incurred under the McGreevey administration or the $3 billion state spending increase called for under Gov. Corzine's state budget that contained more than $300 million in pork-barrel spending that could have been directed to solidify the state pension system. Moreover, while we may not have agreed with Whitman on a number of issues, we don't recall the sales tax being increased or expanded during her tenure.

The writer points out the service provided by many state employees. In this, we agree. However, that doesn't mean state positions can't be consolidated or reclassified in order to stop taxpayers from handing over more and more of their money to the government every year. Plus, government services don't really help if you can't afford to live in the state because the taxes to pay for them are too high.

We don't get any calls to our district office from people clamoring for more state workers. On the contrary, people want to be able to afford to live in the state again. This can be done only by cutting spending. Our oversized state bureaucracy is an excellent starting point if any meaningful effort is going to be made to help all taxpayers, including union workers.

Leonard T. Connors Jr. is a Republican state senator from the 9th District, which includes towns in Ocean, Atlantic and Burlington counties. Christopher J. Connors and Brian E. Rumpf are Republican Assembly members from that district.