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Wed PM: Payday for (some) state workers
posted at 2007-05-09 18:12 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
The House budget committee has approved an amendment that would change the proposed raises for state employees.
The original proposal was a 2.5% percent raise plus a one time bonus of $400. The amendment by Wake Dem Dan Blue changes that to 4.25%, which would be paid for eliminating up to 2100 empty state jobs.
Sounds like a good deal, as long as you make more than $23,000 a year. State workers who make less than that will actually get less under Blue's plan than they would have gained with the bonus. For example, a worker making $21,000 would have received a total of $925 under the original bill, but is now in line for only $892.50.
On the other hand, you can argue that while the $400 bonus is a one-time deal, the higher raise would stick around for good.
Everyone on the committee agreed they needed to "do something" for state employees, who held a rally yesterday to express their discontent with the 2.5% raise. And many lauded Blue for his creativity in finding the money - about 103 million - in vacant positions. Blue argued, and many agreed, that if an a position has been vacant for six months, it must not be necessary to the function of the department..
But many raised concerns about eliminating so many positions, and where they'd come from. House Health co-chair Verla Insko said 1000 of them are hard-to-fill jobs in health and human services, particularly in institutional settings. Insko says the department uses the salaries from vacant positions to pay for badly-needed temps and relief help.
Others said the same about Dept of Corrections jobs - that is, a position might be vacant because it's hard to fill due to low pay, not because it's non-essential.
Blue said there would be some flexibility in deciding which jobs to eliminate.
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