There has been a bit more talk about Governor Dalrymple's use of the retention bonus program since I last talked about it. Again, most people were surprised by his use of the bonuses, mostly because it hasn't really been utilized before, but also because of the amount of the bonuses given. Because of this use, many of the state legislature are talking about making changes to the program in 2017. One legislator has said that it is unlikely that the program will actually disappear, but the goal would be to reign in its usage.
Dalrymple has again defended his use of the bonuses, saying that each of the individuals who received them have been offered other jobs with very competitive salaries. Of course there is not really a way to know if that is true or not, but if so the use of the bonuses, and the high amount of them, make a little more sense and can be somewhat justified.