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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho finds recruiting, keeping workers tough due to low pay

Associated Press

BOISE – State workers are leaving their jobs for higher pay, and agencies can’t find people to replace them, a trend causing legislators to consider making changes to the way the state pays its employees.

“No matter what pieces of our system we adjust, it’s all about the money,” Idaho’s Division of Human Resources Director Ann Heilman told the Idaho Statesman.

But the state also faces other costs, including $180 million to expand prison space to keep up with inmate growth.

“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg” of other needs that will be brought to the Legislature this winter, said Caldwell Republican Sen. John McGee, a member of the budget committee.

The Legislature created an interim committee to study ways to change how it pays state employees, or make suggestions on what to fix. With just one meeting left before the session begins, that panel mostly agrees on just one thing: Without the Legislature’s commitment to spend more money on employees, all their discussions may be meaningless.

Department of Water Resources Director Karl Dreher said Tuesday his agency is losing highly skilled workers to companies like Avista and Idaho Power, which are paying them sometimes 50 percent more than what they make at the state. Heilman said other agencies are experiencing the same thing.

“We don’t even get to the in-depth interview stage because our salaries aren’t competitive,” Heilman said.

In the past decade or so, the state’s benefits package spending has increased 245 percent, largely based on health insurance spikes.

The state’s regular salary increases have totaled 17 percent, while the labor market averages have risen 31 percent, Heilman said.

A group of agency human resources directors suggest writing a general philosophy of goals, a mission statement about recruiting and retaining employees. It would replace the existing state law regarding worker pay.

Idaho Transportation Department Human Resources director Mary Harker called it an “umbrella of values.”

“The state should say its goal is to maintain salaries close to the market rates, and try to bring people up to market rates within five years,” she said.

But some lawmakers are concerned about making commitments they might not be able to keep.

“That should be our intent,” Coeur d’Alene GOP Sen. Dick Compton said. “I’m not sure it should be chipped in stone.”

Moscow Democrat Rep. Shirley Ringo said there needs to be some way to guarantee that future legislatures won’t skimp on salaries. She said the state needs to budget for its employees.

“If we don’t have them, the programs don’t really matter.”