Cuts in the state work force have resulted in less scrutiny of unscrupulous businesses, food-processing plants and nursing homes, and caused longer waits on highways and in government offices, according to documents obtained Thursday by The Bee.

The reports chronicle the effects of last year's elimination of 9,300 state jobs. Their release follows a months-long effort by The Bee to obtain information on the impact of the personnel cuts, ordered last year by former Gov. Gray Davis.

The forms were filled out by each department at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. They reveal cutbacks in a wide variety of state services. For instance:
* The Office of Fair Employment and Housing is investigating 27 percent fewer complaints than last year.

* The Department of Health Services has cut back on criminal background checks of people who work in nursing homes and adult day-care facilities.

* The California Highway Patrol isn't inspecting as many trucks and is putting off maintenance on its vehicles.

The reports detail just one slice of the hit that state government took in the budget approved last year, which included millions of dollars in program cuts that weren't directly related to personnel. They also offer a grim idea of what is still to come in California, where Schwarzenegger and the Legislature must close another $14 billion gap.

The current year's budget required the governor to cut $1.1 billion from state operations, mostly through personnel cuts. The order resulted in the elimination of about 9,300 positions.

The freshly released documents provide a detailed look at the way the departments went about achieving the payroll savings.

Most agencies wiped already vacant positions off the books without filling them and trimmed travel, supplies and part-time help.

Departments were expected to lay off roughly 2,000 people this fiscal year. But as of Thursday, only 878 state workers had been laid off, demoted, transferred or voluntarily resigned, said Lyn-elle Jolley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration.

The Schwarzenegger administration, however, has already allowed some departments to restore lost positions and is distancing itself from the negative effects of the cuts.

In February, for example, the administration gave the Department of Motor Vehicles an exemption from the state's hiring freeze to add 400 workers to alleviate long waits at DMV offices.

"This is the sum and substance of what the Legislature approved and the previous administration had approved," said Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer.

The Bee requested details on the impact of state job cuts from Davis in October, but the request was denied. Schwarzenegger, who campaigned on an open-government platform, promised the day after he took office in November to make the information public, but his Department of Finance later refused to supply it.

The Department of Finance then reversed itself in February and asked departments to fill out new forms explaining the effects of the layoffs.

The reports show that the impact was wide-ranging in the Department of Health Services, which has started limiting inspections of food-processing plants to high-risk facilities only; delaying medical care for needy children for up to four months; and cutting back on disease control efforts. Outbreaks of sexually transmitted diseases are being handled "on a priority basis," officials said.

The department also has slowed its criminal background checks of health-care workers in nursing homes and other facilities that serve the elderly and disabled, pushing up a backlog of investigations from 1,946 last year to 2,285 this year.

Because workers in those facilities are allowed to start a job before the background check is complete, people with criminal convictions may be caring for the elderly and disabled while the investigation is delayed, department officials said.

Officials in some departments blamed the cuts on the Davis administration and said they were looking at how to reduce some of the harm.

Nicole Kasabian Evans, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Agency, said agency officials will be examining ways to position employees "so we can continue to provide essential services to our most vulnerable populations."

Services to consumers, meanwhile, especially those designed to protect the public from unscrupulous businesses and health practitioners, have been dramatically slowed, various departments reported.

The Office of Fair Employment and Housing has accepted 27 percent fewer discrimination cases for investigation this year than last. The state Franchise Tax Board has closed 10 of the 16 offices where Californians could seek assistance filing their state taxes. The issuing of new licenses for professionals ranging from architects to accountants and nurses is being delayed by months, officials said.

Tim Herrera, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, said his department is getting angry reactions from people who are experiencing long waits when they call the state's consumer information center. The center lost 14 full-time and four part-time positions, and caller wait times went up from nine to 14 minutes, he said.

The department has changed some of its recorded messages to more efficiently route calls and has instituted a system that lets consumers leave a message and get a faxed reply, Herrera said.

"It's been tough," he said. "Everybody's feeling it, and everyone is just doing the best they can with what they have."

The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency also reported a spectrum of problems that include stalled road projects and repairs, and delays for companies looking to do business with the state government.

The Department of Alcohol Beverage Control's reduction of 26 vacant spots increased the wait time for businesses to get an appointment to file a license application from four to 21 days.

The Department of Real Estate enforcement program has reduced random audits of real estate firms, mortgage loan brokers and property management companies from 655 to 445 annually.

Fewer toll-bridge workers are on the job, contributing to traffic jams at bridges, and the California Department of Transportation has scaled back rest-area repairs and upkeep.

The Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams said 10 lost positions "will increase the likelihood of dam failure on lower hazard structures and may result in loss of life and/or property."

The California Highway Patrol also reported that a smaller work force has hampered operations. Although CHP Commissioner D.O. "Spike" Helmick said the department's public safety efforts continue to be in full force, the department's dwindling ranks have resulted in fewer inspections of trucks for dangerous contraband and fewer safety outreach programs aimed at non-English-speaking drivers.

"So far, the biggest impact is you have less people to do the same amount of work," Helmick said. "We'll just have to stretch."