A large number of Houston government jobs could be effected by impending state budget cuts.

A new analysis of the Texas state budget found that cuts in funding could end up costing Harris County, where Houston is located, about $50 million per year. That’s on top of the service cuts, layoffs, and furloughs the county is considering in order to cut 10 percent from its own $1.3 billion budget.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the State of Texas is currently facing a budget shortfall of $15 billion to $27 billion during the next two years. The initial draft of the budget does not increase taxes or use the rainy day fund, but includes deep cuts in such vital departments as public education and social services.

In Harris County, cuts in funding to bridge the state budget gap could effect everything from mental health services to auto theft prevention. As the state and county are forced to reduce costs, it’s inevitable that layoffs will have to be made.

Programs that are slated to lose funding so far include:

  • Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County – $13 million
  • Harris County Sheriff’s Office Auto Theft Task Force – $1 million
  • Harris County Juvenile Probation Department – $3 million

This is bad news for the Houston area, where the local economy as a whole is continuing to recover from the economic downturn. During December, the area’s unemployment rate dropped from 8.6 percent to 8.3 percent, which was below the national average at the time of 9.4 percent.

The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area employed a total of 2,542,600 workers during December, which is up from 2,534,500 workers during November and a .5 percent increase from the previous year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, the government industry continues to suffer the lasting effects of the recession. The industry employed 375,700 workers during December, which is down from 377,300 workers during November and a .3 percent decrease from the previous year.

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