State Employee Pay Cuts

It is not yet six am. I am dressed and ready to head to the Statehouse. Yesterday we were told the early morning Joint Finance Committee meetings will start. We will have a pre meeting to work out "motions" or proposals for how much money we decide we will really have to spend for state government in the last half of 2009 and the start of 2010. That's medical care, prisons, drug treatment and water quality protection and especially thousands and thousands of people who's job it is to do this work of the state, from teaching our kids to guarding our prisons, safeguarding social security numbers to making sure that feed lots don't contaminate well water.

In a tiny room that is now a library but once was part of the county jail, we will debate how deeply and in what way to cut state employee pay. It is that bad.

Will we use furloughs (days off without pay) or base cuts as deep as 5% or 7% in state employee pay? Some like governor Otter want to lay off employees. I personally do not believe that is good for the economy or for how well our state functions. This is the most Republican state in the nation, the last problem we have is too many government workers or people paid too well. Every new Republican governor finds places to "reduce government." They eliminate departments, cut staff, rearrange things. We are bare bones and state employees, especially those on the front lines, the kindergarten and math teachers, the adjunct professors, food stamp screeners, child protection workers and budget analysts work hard for the pay they get. This won't be easy.

If we cut jobs, unemployment rises more than its current record rate. If we pay families less, some will qualify for food stamps. They have to eat and pay rent and child care and heat and gas and electricity. Hopefully we will give some of them with families food stamps. Those are federal funds we have been stingy with. Our state's laws are different from any other state's. We make people lose everything before we make sure they are able to eat. Its called an "asset test." You can't own anything, just one car, not two, if you or your kids are hungry and need help for a bit. That may be something we can change. I know we need to.

How will our economy recover if families and businesses have to hit the very bottom of crisis before they get help? The deeper they go into crisis, the harder to recover.

Idahoans are rugged and independent. We also, especially in the small towns and older neighborhoods know each other. We need to know each other even in the suburbs. We need to watch out for our neighbors, make sure they are OK. I have something to give still. I'm buying things at locally owned stores and giving to the food bank and homeless shelter. I know i could do more. It is that kind of time. Over fences and in coffee shops, in senior centers and school yards, I think we better ask how it is going. Maybe over a conversation we can help each other out just a little bit and get through this.

Meanwhile, I have to head to the statehouse to vote on how to cut pay for thousands of Idahoans. Not a vote I want to make. There are better and worse ways to do this. May we do the least harm possible.

Comments

[JJ Saldana]

It's a scary time for us.

[Jamie]

This has been an active topic of discussion in the office. Everyone agrees - furloughs or reduced work weeks would be preferable. We can spend that extra time with family or maybe (maybe) find some sort of part time job to help with the loss in pay. We would be doing our part to reduce state costs in a time of need. However, cutting our hourly pay would negatively impact moral. It would feel as if our worth is reduced along with our pay rate. Some of us have been around long enough to know how difficult it was to bring our overall pay scale up to match the private sector or other states (which it still does not). What assurances would we have that our pay rates would ever revert back to what they are now? These are challenging times with difficult decisions to be made. I don't envy you or your counterparts. I simply ask that all sides of the issue are considered and that employees be given an opportunity to weigh in on the possible solutions.

[Frank Miata]

I just wonder if Republicans, who got you into the mess your in, would care to take responsibilty for the mess the state is in now? It is time for folks out there to turn away from the plantation mentality of your Republican dominated legislature. Vote the bastards out; Idaho should not become a low humidity Mississippi.

[Anonymous]

Ironically, I just found this site while googling for the Mississippi State Employees pay scale. I'm a current Idaho State Employee. I'd prefer that the state start laying off employees (through attrition, hopefully) rather than furloughing or reducing pay. I figure, if Idaho can't afford the employees it has, then it has too many. Why make everyone take home less money, when in reality the state can't make payroll. I've worked for the state for 20+ years, and am currently paid 30% below what the payscale indicates I should be making. There is something definitely wrong with the mindset of the legislature. Quit paying HAY to develop pay scales that YOU won't fund. I'm tired of the empty promises.

[AverageJoe]

I'm a state H & W employee, for almost 20 years now. About 8 years ago the economy went bad and my department was cut back by about 45-50 staff, about a 20% reduction. We got a few positions back since then, maybe a dozen, but our workload/caseload has almost doubled in the past 8 years. Unpaid Furlough time is the best for now, it's a temporary pay reduction, it also cuts down on vacation and sick leave cost me about $2500 since last July.) It does keep barely enough staff to serve the needy citizens of Idaho, but at least it keeps people employed & services delivered. BUT unpaid furlough should not be only half-days, because the savings are in employee pay only. The offices should be shut down for a whole day, like many other states are now doing, so that other savings like heat/air conditioning, power, water, security guards in parking areas and buildings, etc. can be reduced too. Example, instead of two half-days a month, just make it one full day per month to increase overall cash savings Hopefully within the next few years unpaid furlough can gradually be reduced and get us back to our current pay rate. Permanent pay reduction will take years, if ever, to return to current pay. Layoffs will put state workers on unemployment, reduce consumer spending, state income tax, sales tax, and they will end up on Food Stamps, cash assistance, Medicare and other government services. If they ever find another job, they will likely end up in minimum wage jobs and never recover, probably lose their homes, their medical insurance, and destroy their credit, reduce their retirement funds, and they'll end up in public assisted housing, nursing homes, or on the street. Why should the legislature even consider permanent wage reductions or layoffs or elimination of positions which will further cut back services for needy citizens and put more people out in the street and/or on government services or both? Governor Otter and our Republican Legislators need to get off the smaller government, position cutbacks,layoff bandwagon and start making smart decisions to stop the downward spiral in Idaho's economic base.