Your dream is coming true, Jay. There have been hiring freezes and budget cuts imposed on agencies across the board for the last year and a half or so, maybe longer. The demands on these agencies haven't gone down, though, so salaried workers are working uncompensated overtime and temporary employees that are not entitled to benefits are doing work that used to be performed by career employees. You wouldn't be "aware" of it, though, because the State agencies are largely run by dedicated people who are struggling to do their jobs, and they are not busy spewing a bunch of political hoo hah such as what you have apparently been reading.
If its such a punishing a job then the employees can just quit and take their skills elsewhere. Surely a private company would be in need of such selfless, dedicated, and highly trained personnel. From the sound of your post I'd bet they'd get paid more too, right?