Budget writers: State worker pay ‘a more in-depth problem’
The first agency budget approved by JFAC this morning, for the Department of Finance, includes both the 2 percent raises already OK'd by the joint committee for all performing state employees, and $163,800 to bring seven financial examiners' salaries up to policy; Gov. Butch Otter also had recommended that change. The motion by Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, passed on a unaniomus, 20-0 vote, but Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, said, "We did a supplemental (appropriation) a few weeks ago for Fish & Game, for them to try to get their conservation officers up to speed. Now it appears we have a line item ... for some of our finance folks. It's appearing more and more to me that CEC is not going to fix our problems. ... It's a more in-depth problem."
CEC is legis-speak for state employee raises; it stands for Change in Employee Compensation. That's the figure that JFAC set at 2 percent, after Gov. Butch Otter had recommended 3 percent, but wanted to make it one-time bonuses rather than ongoing raises. Neither Fish & Game nor the Department of Finance receives any state general tax funds.