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State Appellate Public Defender Molly Huskey told JFAC today that her office faces having to spend $140,000 for contract attorneys at $125 per hour for pending cases and hearings. “I would submit to this committee that there is a more efficient way to spend this money,” Huskey said. Her proposal - and Gov. Butch Otter’s recommendation - is to transfer the $140,000 from the operating budget to personnel, add an attorney and refund a vacant position. That’ll give the office far more legal firepower than the $140,000 otherwise would have bought. “We can operate so much more efficiently and get so much more for the money that we’re spending,” Huskely told lawmakers. “We can get more work done in-house and decrease our price to the state.”
All the attorneys in the agency already are taking one furlough day a month, Huskey said, including herself; that’s causing some problems with Idaho Supreme Court hearing schedules. “Allowing us to have the flexibility to at least have some more attorneys in-house and not spending so much on our contract attorneys would allow us to at least keep ahead of the tidal wave,” Huskey said. The proposal wouldn’t increase the agency’s budget; there would be no additional cost.
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ime on February 06 at 1:43 p.m.
There is a difference between hourly subcontractor rate, and hourly wage rate. Wages are paid not just for productive hours but for vacation, holidays, and sick time. Employees also incur expenses other than their salaries: Social Security taxes, retirement contributions, health insurance, and a variety of lesser taxes and expenses. Employees also need to be supervised; proper supervision generally takes between 5 and 10 hours of supervisor’s time per week per subordinate. Finally, the hourly $125 paid by the state includes office expenses, equipment, and supplies. Those potential new employees will each need space, a desk, a chair, a phone, a computer, and related supplies and support.
It is possible, even likely, that one or two FTEs will be a better use of the funds than contracted legal work. But Ms. Huskey’s presentation compared apples to oranges and thus did not provide the information necessary to make that decision.