Hefty Pay Raises for State Workers Won't Help Governor's Plans

Brad Shannon frames the pay hikes issue neatly in his story in The News Tribune.

More than 21,000 state employees could get pay raises of up to 5 percent in the next year, despite Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to cut $1.7 billion from public schools, health care and other programs to solve a budget shortfall.

As we noted previously, major editorials across the state have criticized the governor's budget for protecting public employee compensation while threatening education and social service programs. Typical is this line from the Spokesman-Review.

The shielding of public employee pay and benefits, which has been aided and abetted by state leaders for decades, must end. The unions have more clout than the vulnerable people facing the loss of critical state aid, so legislators need to step up and make the case.

Shannon explains the pay hikes. They're "longevity increments" - automatic pay hikes typically received in an employees first six years. They'll add up to some $83 million.

The step pay is separate from cost-of-living raises, which state lawmakers this year agreed to suspend for two years for state workers, and college and public school employees. After the session ended in April without new state employee contracts, Gregoire and state employee labor unions struck agreements on pay and medical benefits that left intact pay arrangements from the 2007-09 contract, which legislators had ratified.

That begs the question of the Legislature's role in making compensation decisions, particularly in these straitened times.

Shannon's story provides a lot of good information and should be read in its entirety.