Legislators rush to increase state employee wages

BOISE – Idaho state employees deserve a raise as soon as possible, state senators declared Thursday as they unanimously passed legislation to grant immediate, permanent raises.

Senate Bill 1263 now moves to the House, where legislative leaders hope it can be quickly passed and sent to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. The governor wants employees to see the raises in their first paychecks in February.

“I’m very much in support of this, and I applaud … (the governor) for making the recommendation that we do this and get it in the hands of our well-deserving state employees as quickly as possible,” said Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene.

But Compton said lawmakers shouldn’t fool themselves that the merit-based raises, averaging 3 percent, will solve the state’s employee pay problems.

Lawmakers have granted state employees 2 percent in permanent raises in the past four years. State wages on average are more than 16 percent below market rates. In some high-demand jobs – nurses, highway engineers – the state can’t fill vacancies because the pay is so far below standard.

The raises will go to thousands of state employees, but not to those who work for school districts or to judges, commissioners or elected officials.

Sen. Bert Marley, D-McCammon, said separate plans are in the works to address school employees, so he joined in the unanimous vote for the raises.

“I know there is some urgency to get this done so they can cut the checks,” Marley said.

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said, “I’ve appreciated the fact that our employees have stuck with us during our economic downturns. Now that we’re out of a downturn, I feel we need to begin addressing the employees’ salaries. … For me this is the first of a series of steps to increase employee salaries and to ensure they get to the people on the front lines.”

The legislation directs state managers to distribute the raises on the basis of both job performance and market forces.

“I never like to see legislation in a rush. We usually make mistakes in a rush,” said Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth.

“I feel like we’ve kinda gone on trust with this. We’ll be watching. … I want to see these raises distributed as fairly and as equitably as possible.”

The raises will cost the state $6.8 million in general funds for the rest of the current fiscal year. Because they’re permanent, they’ll then continue into the new fiscal year that starts July 1.

Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, said, “This does not solve all the problems. There still is a salary gap. There still are some issues that have to be addressed.”