Monday, April 27, 1998 | 11:20 a.m.
"I didn't go out with the idea that we would have a specific number, just that we would work to make sure that when we were looking for quality people, that we would represent the face of the state as much as possible," Miller says.
Minority employees in state government increased from 14.5 percent of the total in January 1991 to 17.7 percent as of January. The number of minority state employees rose from 1,552 in 1991 to 2,342 in 1998, a 50.9 percent increase.
For women, who have traditionally made up almost half of the state work force, the more important objective has been employment in the higher echelons of state government. Here too, progress has been made, according to data from the state Department of Personnel.
In 1991, 27 percent of state officials and administrators were women. In 1998, that number has grown to 34.9 percent. In addition, seven of the 14 heads of state agencies are women.
But Miller, finishing his last year as governor, has failed to hit all the targets set by his administration, particularly in the number of Hispanics in state jobs.
The goal has been to make the state employee work force mirror the labor force as a whole in Nevada, based on 1990 census data.
Figures provided by the Department of Personnel as of Jan. 1 show the goal has been exceeded with blacks and Native Americans.
The state of Nevada work force as of Jan. 1 was 6.9 percent black, compared with 5.6 percent of the qualified statewide labor force. Native Americans make up 2.4 percent of state employees, but only 1.4 percent of the statewide labor force.
But Hispanics make up only 6.2 percent of state employees, compared with 9.9 percent of the total statewide labor force. And Asians make up only 2.3 percent of state employees, compared with 3.3 percent in the total statewide labor force.
Miller said his affirmative action successes are due largely to bringing the issue to the attention of state officials who make hiring decisions. The initial attention-getting device was an executive order, issued in June 1990, affirming his commitment to a policy of equal employment opportunity.
The closest Miller ever got to a quota was a second executive order, issued in March 1994, in which he required a director's review if a minority was among the top five candidates for a job opening but did not get the job.
This policy had the effect of giving weight to a top-five candidate who was a minority, but a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision caused the state to do away with that policy in 1996.
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