Post by mikekerstetter on Apr 10, 2011 4:03:59 GMT -5
www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/04/some_employees_of_pennsylvania.html
Some employees of Pennsylvania Legislature may receive pay hikes as unionized workers, teachers are asked to freeze pay
Published: Sunday, April 10, 2011, 12:00 AM
KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News
As teachers and unionized state workers are being asked to accept salary freezes or reductions, some employees of the state Legislature will still be getting raises this year.
The state House Republican Caucus has lifted a freeze on merit pay increases for their employees. Senate Democratic staffers can also qualify for raises again this year.
Union leaders who are being asked to sell members on rolling back pay and benefits say it’s hypocritical. Government watchdogs say both caucuses are sending the wrong message.
In the House Republican Caucus, the raises are not automatic and are limited to 2.5 percent, said Steve Miskin, a spokesman. As of March, House Republican staffers are eligible for a raise if they score high enough on their annual evaluations, Miskin said.
House Republican leaders chose to lift the salary freeze now because caucus staffers have had their pay frozen for three straight years and are beginning to pay 1 percent of their salary toward health insurance.
“Legislative staffers also have bills to pay and rising costs of living,” Miskin said.
Miskin said plenty of House Republican staffers make $20,000 to $30,000. “They’re not making tons of money, and they’ve got families, too,” Miskin said.
The House GOP employs more than 800 staffers. An Associated Press analysis of legislative staff pay indicates the average House GOP staffer earns $36,000. However, top staffers can earn six-figure salaries.
Senate Democratic staffers qualify for a raise of 1 percent to 3 percent a year depending on the Consumer Price Index, said Lisa Scullin, a caucus spokeswoman. Salaries were frozen four years ago, but the freeze was lifted in 2010, she said.
The Senate Democratic Caucus has more than 300 employees, and the average staffer earns $52,000, the AP staffing analysis revealed.
Pay for House Democratic and Senate Republican staffers remains frozen. Neither caucus plans to allow raises this year.
House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said the caucus suspended merit pay increases from the end of 2009 through today. He said only employees who are promoted or reassigned could receive a raise.
A memo to Senate Republicans circulated last summer by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, noted that since 2007, they had limited raises for staff and then froze salaries altogether.
Drew Crompton, Scarnati’s chief of staff, said last week that there are no plans to lift the salary freeze for Senate Republican employees, but an employee who is promoted within the Senate could still receive an increase.
With Pennsylvania facing a $4 billion budget deficit, Gov. Tom Corbett said a shared sacrifice would be the only way to lift the state out of its financial hole. He called for steep cuts to education, eliminating state jobs and a voluntary salary freeze for teachers.
And as the largest state employees union began contract talks last week, the Corbett administration outlined a proposal that would cut workers’ pay by 4 percent next year, then provide 2 percent increases in each of the following two years.
David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest state employees union, said it’s hypocritical that his members are being asked to take a pay cut while lawmakers will be handing out raises.
“The governor’s up there talking about how these are the worst times and everybody has to sacrifice. Last time I checked, the Legislature and legislative staff are public employees, too,” Fillman said. “Their pay and our pay still comes out of the taxpayers’ money.”
G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist and pollster with Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, said it isn’t a question of whether staffers deserve merit raises or not.
It’s a matter of “fiscal fairness” given that the governor is calling on teachers and unions to freeze their pay or even reduce it, he said.
“There’s pain in this and the pain ought to be shared by everyone,” Madonna said. “If you’re asking one group of employees to stand pat or even to take a cut, there has to be no employee in these tough times who gets a raise — merit or otherwise.”
Some fiscal conservatives look at the way private businesses give raises in considering whether legislative staff should receive increases.
Businesses have to take into account their bottom line: If they’re not making more money or producing more, they can’t give merit increases even if they want to, said Matt Brouillette, president of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation.
“I think certainly the timing is a factor, but I would point more to the poor performance of government as being the biggest reason why we shouldn’t be giving [raises] even if we were flush with cash,” Brouillette said.
He said Corbett and Republican legislative leaders have laid out an aggressive agenda, but taxpayers need to see the results before handing out more pay.
Regardless of pay, public employees receive better benefits and pensions than most private-sector workers, he said.
The General Assembly emphasizes that it has made significant efforts to cut costs over the last few years.
Miskin, the House Republican spokesman, pointed out that staffers’ salaries were frozen the last three years while unionized state employees received raises. He said they have reduced payroll costs even though their caucus grew from 97 Republican lawmakers to 112 after last November’s election.
Plus, he said the caucus cut its own budget line by 10 percent or more for three consecutive years while also restricting out-of-state travel, eliminating most of their outside contracts to rely on in-house staff and technology, and instituting a hiring freeze for all but the most essential positions.
“Truly, the leaders ... fully understand every dollar government spends comes out of our wallets. We know that,” Miskin said. “We’ve tried to be as frugal as possible. We will continue to do so.”
Scullin said Senate Democrats have reduced their workforce by 21 percent since 2004, with most positions cut as opposed to eliminated through attrition.
House Democrats said they have cut more than 100 positions, reducing overall salary costs by $4.2 million since December 2009.
And Scarnati’s memo laid out five years’ worth of budget cuts to the Senate along with the fact that members and staff began paying 1 percent of their salary for health care in 2006.
Some employees of Pennsylvania Legislature may receive pay hikes as unionized workers, teachers are asked to freeze pay
Published: Sunday, April 10, 2011, 12:00 AM
KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News By KARI ANDREN, The Patriot-News
As teachers and unionized state workers are being asked to accept salary freezes or reductions, some employees of the state Legislature will still be getting raises this year.
The state House Republican Caucus has lifted a freeze on merit pay increases for their employees. Senate Democratic staffers can also qualify for raises again this year.
Union leaders who are being asked to sell members on rolling back pay and benefits say it’s hypocritical. Government watchdogs say both caucuses are sending the wrong message.
In the House Republican Caucus, the raises are not automatic and are limited to 2.5 percent, said Steve Miskin, a spokesman. As of March, House Republican staffers are eligible for a raise if they score high enough on their annual evaluations, Miskin said.
House Republican leaders chose to lift the salary freeze now because caucus staffers have had their pay frozen for three straight years and are beginning to pay 1 percent of their salary toward health insurance.
“Legislative staffers also have bills to pay and rising costs of living,” Miskin said.
Miskin said plenty of House Republican staffers make $20,000 to $30,000. “They’re not making tons of money, and they’ve got families, too,” Miskin said.
The House GOP employs more than 800 staffers. An Associated Press analysis of legislative staff pay indicates the average House GOP staffer earns $36,000. However, top staffers can earn six-figure salaries.
Senate Democratic staffers qualify for a raise of 1 percent to 3 percent a year depending on the Consumer Price Index, said Lisa Scullin, a caucus spokeswoman. Salaries were frozen four years ago, but the freeze was lifted in 2010, she said.
The Senate Democratic Caucus has more than 300 employees, and the average staffer earns $52,000, the AP staffing analysis revealed.
Pay for House Democratic and Senate Republican staffers remains frozen. Neither caucus plans to allow raises this year.
House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said the caucus suspended merit pay increases from the end of 2009 through today. He said only employees who are promoted or reassigned could receive a raise.
A memo to Senate Republicans circulated last summer by Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, noted that since 2007, they had limited raises for staff and then froze salaries altogether.
Drew Crompton, Scarnati’s chief of staff, said last week that there are no plans to lift the salary freeze for Senate Republican employees, but an employee who is promoted within the Senate could still receive an increase.
With Pennsylvania facing a $4 billion budget deficit, Gov. Tom Corbett said a shared sacrifice would be the only way to lift the state out of its financial hole. He called for steep cuts to education, eliminating state jobs and a voluntary salary freeze for teachers.
And as the largest state employees union began contract talks last week, the Corbett administration outlined a proposal that would cut workers’ pay by 4 percent next year, then provide 2 percent increases in each of the following two years.
David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest state employees union, said it’s hypocritical that his members are being asked to take a pay cut while lawmakers will be handing out raises.
“The governor’s up there talking about how these are the worst times and everybody has to sacrifice. Last time I checked, the Legislature and legislative staff are public employees, too,” Fillman said. “Their pay and our pay still comes out of the taxpayers’ money.”
G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist and pollster with Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, said it isn’t a question of whether staffers deserve merit raises or not.
It’s a matter of “fiscal fairness” given that the governor is calling on teachers and unions to freeze their pay or even reduce it, he said.
“There’s pain in this and the pain ought to be shared by everyone,” Madonna said. “If you’re asking one group of employees to stand pat or even to take a cut, there has to be no employee in these tough times who gets a raise — merit or otherwise.”
Some fiscal conservatives look at the way private businesses give raises in considering whether legislative staff should receive increases.
Businesses have to take into account their bottom line: If they’re not making more money or producing more, they can’t give merit increases even if they want to, said Matt Brouillette, president of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation.
“I think certainly the timing is a factor, but I would point more to the poor performance of government as being the biggest reason why we shouldn’t be giving [raises] even if we were flush with cash,” Brouillette said.
He said Corbett and Republican legislative leaders have laid out an aggressive agenda, but taxpayers need to see the results before handing out more pay.
Regardless of pay, public employees receive better benefits and pensions than most private-sector workers, he said.
The General Assembly emphasizes that it has made significant efforts to cut costs over the last few years.
Miskin, the House Republican spokesman, pointed out that staffers’ salaries were frozen the last three years while unionized state employees received raises. He said they have reduced payroll costs even though their caucus grew from 97 Republican lawmakers to 112 after last November’s election.
Plus, he said the caucus cut its own budget line by 10 percent or more for three consecutive years while also restricting out-of-state travel, eliminating most of their outside contracts to rely on in-house staff and technology, and instituting a hiring freeze for all but the most essential positions.
“Truly, the leaders ... fully understand every dollar government spends comes out of our wallets. We know that,” Miskin said. “We’ve tried to be as frugal as possible. We will continue to do so.”
Scullin said Senate Democrats have reduced their workforce by 21 percent since 2004, with most positions cut as opposed to eliminated through attrition.
House Democrats said they have cut more than 100 positions, reducing overall salary costs by $4.2 million since December 2009.
And Scarnati’s memo laid out five years’ worth of budget cuts to the Senate along with the fact that members and staff began paying 1 percent of their salary for health care in 2006.
