A proposal to make major reductions in Cal Trans’ staffing may be gaining some steam. Assembly Republicans are supporting a recommendation in a report last year from the Legislative Analyst’s Office to reduce 35-hundred full time positions. It would save around half-a-billion dollars. The report says the agency has too many engineers who prepare and oversee projects. About a-third of those positions would be cut, under the plan. But at the Cal Trans headquarters office in Sacramento, Public Information Officer Mark Dinger says that could result in no shovel-ready road and highway projects, including in District Three….

click to listen to Mark Dinger

Meanwhile, Dinger says a report from the State Department of Finance concludes that Cal Trans is staffed correctly…

click to listen to Mark Dinger

The Legislative Analyst’s report contends that since Cal Trans projected a 40-percent reduction in money for new projects, last year, that would mean less work would be needed.