Idaho panel trims state workers’ raises
BOISE – A joint legislative committee, on a party-line vote, trimmed Idaho Gov. Butch Otter’s proposed 5 percent average raises for state employees next year to 3 percent Friday, saying a teetering economy dictates caution.
Said Sen. John McGee, R-Caldwell, “It would be fiscally irresponsible right now to do anything more.”
The panel’s two Democrats held out for 4 percent, plus an additional 1 percent bonus if state revenues improve. Rep. Anne Pasley-Stuart, D-Boise, said lawmakers committed two years ago, after an extensive study and hearings, to improve Idaho’s state employee pay regardless of the annual ups and downs of the economy. The pay now lags 15 percent below market rates. “It’s an integrity issue, as far as I’m concerned,” Pasley-Stuart said.
Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, said, “We are coming dangerously close to actually backsliding, much less keeping up with market levels.”
But the Democrats were outvoted, 10-2.
Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Post Falls, said, “There’s nobody on this committee who would not love to give that 5 percent. … Nobody likes being the bad guy, but we’ve also got to be honest with ourselves and honest with our state employees.”
Senate Finance Chairman Dean Cameron told the panel that with this week’s revised state revenue forecast, he didn’t believe 5 percent or 4 percent could fit into next year’s budget.
Otter’s economists disagree and say 4 percent could be funded; they believe more of Idaho’s falling revenues are in one-time surplus funds, while some lawmakers are wary that more are in ongoing funds. Wayne Hammon, Otter’s budget chief, said after the vote that Otter was “disappointed” lawmakers opted for the 3 percent figure. Hammon said the decision makes room in next year’s budget for another top Otter priority, a $50 million trust fund for college scholarships for Idaho students. “There’s plenty of room now in the budget for $50 million for opportunity scholarships,” Hammon said.
Supporters of the 3 percent proposal said if the economy improves, lawmakers can add more for raises next year when they return in January. Rep. Ken Roberts, R-Donnelly, who proposed the 3 percent plan, said, “It’s maybe not as much as we all had hoped for, but it certainly addresses the cost of inflation.”
The measure calls for 1 percent in raises to go across the board to all eligible employees with satisfactory evaluations, and the other 2 percent to be divided by merit and to target those who are being paid below market. It also includes various provisions about benefits, including a clause to limit employees’ health insurance premium increases to a maximum of 29 percent. Employees would be offered an alternative plan to keep premium costs the same but cut coverage.
The joint committee’s decision now goes to both houses for a final vote as a concurrent resolution, but it’s expected to stand. State budget writers will begin setting state agency budgets Tuesday; the 3 percent figure will be built into every agency’s budget.