[Vision2020] Pay for Idaho state workers continues to fall

[Janesta]

The solution is simple, legalize marijuana.


On Thu, Jan 2, 2014 at 9:25 AM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of today's (January 2, 2014) Spokesman-Review.
>
> ---------------------------------
> Pay for Idaho state workers continues to fall
>
> BOISE – Pay for Idaho state employees has now slipped to 19 percent below
> market rates, according to the latest state report, a gap that’s been
> growing for the past decade. Compared to private-sector wages, Idaho state
> workers are now 29 percent behind; compared to surrounding states, they’re
> 10 percent below.
>
> Not coincidentally, it’s been six years since the Idaho Legislature last
> convened its joint committee on state employee compensation – which, before
> that, had met annually to examine the issue and hear from state workers.
> That’s about to change, with a joint committee scheduled to hold three days
> of hearings next week.
>
> “I would hope that people would realize that we’re trying to do the best
> we can here,” said state Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, chairman of
> the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee. “Our state employees have
> really held us together these last few years.” He added, “Nobody thought in
> 2006 that by the end of 2009, we’d have lost a third of state revenue, but
> that’s what happened.”
>
> In three of the last five years, lawmakers have set zero raises for Idaho
> state employees; the year before last saw a 2 percent boost, while fiscal
> year 2010 saw a 5 percent cut. Yet state law requires lawmakers to address
> employee compensation every year and keep it competitive, even when state
> revenues lag.
>
> The law requires Idaho state worker compensation, including salary and
> benefits, to be “competitive with relevant labor market averages,” and
> directs that, “In order to provide this funding commitment in difficult
> fiscal conditions, it may be necessary to increase revenues, or to
> prioritize and eliminate certain functions or programs in state government,
> or to reduce the overall number of state employees in a given year.”
>
> “Otherwise, you’re going to get further and further behind market, and
> that’s what’s happened currently,” said Idaho Legislative Services Director
> Jeff Youtz. “There are some statutory requirements that I don’t think we’ve
> been following the last several years that we need to pay a little more
> attention to.”
>
> Youtz praised legislative leaders and the House and Senate commerce chairs
> for bringing the joint committee back this year. “We’ll go through all of
> that at these meetings, and that’ll be part of the benefit,” he said, “is
> reviewing all of these appropriate statutes … and how things work, what the
> governor’s role is, what the Legislature’s role is. I think it’ll be a real
> positive exercise, regardless of the outcome.”
>
> By law, if state lawmakers don’t take action on state employee
> compensation, known in legislative shorthand as CEC, for change in employee
> compensation, the governor’s recommendation automatically takes effect.
>
> The law also requires the state Division of Human Resources to conduct
> salary surveys each year and present the results to the governor and
> Legislature. This year’s report concludes that the state’s benefits
> package, including “strong” retirement and health coverage benefits, “does
> not offset the below-market wages, and therefore results in a total
> compensation program below the market average in both the private and
> public sectors.”
>
> The joint committee, with lawmakers from both parties and both houses,
> will meet next Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at the state Capitol, during
> the first week of Idaho’s legislative session. On Wednesday afternoon, from
> 3:15 to 5 p.m., the committee will take testimony from state employees in a
> public hearing.
>
> Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, said he sees “value” in
> the committee’s proceedings. “I served on it for years,” he said. “It gave
> me an additional perspective walking out that I didn’t have walking in.”
>  --------------------------------
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still.
> But first you must learn to smile as you kill,
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>
> - John Lennon
>
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