New York Governor David Paterson announced early today that the state of New York would lay off nearly 900 employees by the end of calendar year 2010 in an effort to balance the state’s budget. The prospect of layoffs has been lingering in the air since early this year but there had been hope that New York would achieve necessary workforce reductions through early retirements and attrition. The governor’s announcement removed any doubt that layoffs would occur.

State employee union reps responded angrily to Paterson. A statement from the Public Employees Federation called his announcement “an outrage, completely unnecessary and illegal.”