There is nothing surprising about this story.  This is common practice.  This is the tip of the iceberg of state waste.  This is the result of employee unions owning too many politicians.  Walker, and Walker-parrots like Cole and Wohlforth, say: "We've cut to the bone!  We need an income tax!"  But stories like this show just how far from the truth their "logic" is.  The state has not restructured, has not cut any agencies, has not reduced headcount by 20-30%, has not cut state employee wages, has not cut pension payouts, has not gone union-free, has not cut medical benefits, has not cut pointless bloat (like what is mentioned in this article).  The state is still operating as if oil is $100 a barrel and hasn't begun to downsize yet.  All Walker has done is hide his head in the sand of his fantasy gas line project and ignore the fiscal reality of Alaska, hoping the problems will go away.  If Walker was engaged, stuff like this would have stopped 2 1/2 years ago.