Their parents and grandparents started the trend in the 1960s and '70s, when family farms began to fail and the state government stepped in, building the hospitals and prisons that brought new jobs. Three decades later, they're still growing peanuts in Jackson County, but the government pays most of the bills. Please don't let this . . . Under the changes, an employee would have to prove that the opposite is true. Firefighters and correctional, probation and law enforcement officers would be exempt from the changes because they persuaded lawmakers that they are exposed to risks that deserve protection.
Critics say other state workers face equal risks.
It's hard to be productive if you're looking over your shoulder, wondering if you're going to have a job tomorrow. In Marianna, the workers fear more than career service changes. Several speakers told the senators that Bush's efforts appeared to be designed to hurt the Democrat-leaning labor unions that supported Al Gore in the presidential election. Janet Gray, who supervises child protection workers for the Department of Children and Families, drove over from Panama City, hoping the senators would change her mind about the future. In Tallahassee, proponents of the career service changes say the changes would afford state workers more respect by treating them like private sector employees who keep their jobs based on merit, not because of special protections.