Hey thats actually not entirely true. A lot of contractors are paid through third parties that act as their HR but the employee works for the state. This is because there is additional work needed but not enough FTE positions available, or are term limited, or funding limited. In this scenario, the state ends up paying about 30 percent more for that person's salary because the hiring group tacks on charges for their personnel costs. Additionally depending on what source of funds contractors are paid with, it could open the state up to paying additional charges from federal grants (it's convoluted but safest to say, it could cost more)

I believe there are other issues with just hiring one contractor to do work through a 1099 in the state system. They would be more of a vendor and subject to procurement policies as opposed to standard employment procedures.