State Employees Said Ready To Fight Proposals
One of the hottest issues facing legislators in the weeks to come could be the question of measures that impact state employees.
Sources report that some state employees are "livid" over the provisions of House Bill 3108 by Rep. Ron Peterson. The bill would recalculate the state employee benefit allowance that provides insurance for state employees and their families. The bill apparently would cost a single state employee $90 per month and a family with children $250 per month.
The measure has been the subject of numerous posts on the Oklahoma Public Employees Association website's blog at www.opea.org.
It's also said that employees are equally as livid with Governor Brad Henry's pay raise proposal that would also remove some of the benefit allowance and "self-fund" a 5 percent pay raise.
Sources say House Speaker Chris Benge has asked representatives of the employees to present their arguments on Henry's measure to the Republican Caucus on Monday. The OPEA's website confirms that, with this as part of one article: History will be made on Monday, February 25 as OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley and Deputy Director Scott Barger will take state employee issues to the House Republican Caucus. “I cannot stress what a massive inroad this is for the OPEA cause,” said Zearley. “Not only has OPEA never had the opportunity to speak in front of this group, the caucus rarely allows advocacy groups of any kind to make presentations.”
"The whole issue could get very, very contentious," a highly-placed source said.
The developments follow a news release last week by Rep. Scott BigHorse, D-Pawhuska, who said Peterson's bill represents "blatant unfairness" to state employees.
A former state employee with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, BigHorse said state workers have experienced lean times for too long: "In this year when state employees may once again have to take a back seat when it comes to a pay raise, I find it carelessly negligent to even suggest taking monies away," he said.
BigHorse noted that state employees have only had two pay raises in the past seven years.
"Currently almost all state employees purchase benefits that allow them to keep some of the benefit allowance as income," BigHorse said. "With their paychecks an average 12 percent less than their market peers, these additional funds provided by a benefits allowance help them make ends meet. That doesn't mean state employees are getting rich off the benefit allowance. This benefit allowance is a very important component of the state's hiring and retention policies. Last year, because of low pay and an increased workload, Oklahoma lost some $85 million due to turnover costs."
With agencies absorbing insurance increases since 2002, BigHorse said it's time someone made a stand for state employees, instead of attempting to reduce their hard-earned pay. "Health care costs rise every day," he said. "Why should we decrease the allowance given to our state workers to pay for them?"
Sources report that some state employees are "livid" over the provisions of House Bill 3108 by Rep. Ron Peterson. The bill would recalculate the state employee benefit allowance that provides insurance for state employees and their families. The bill apparently would cost a single state employee $90 per month and a family with children $250 per month.
The measure has been the subject of numerous posts on the Oklahoma Public Employees Association website's blog at www.opea.org.
It's also said that employees are equally as livid with Governor Brad Henry's pay raise proposal that would also remove some of the benefit allowance and "self-fund" a 5 percent pay raise.
Sources say House Speaker Chris Benge has asked representatives of the employees to present their arguments on Henry's measure to the Republican Caucus on Monday. The OPEA's website confirms that, with this as part of one article: History will be made on Monday, February 25 as OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley and Deputy Director Scott Barger will take state employee issues to the House Republican Caucus. “I cannot stress what a massive inroad this is for the OPEA cause,” said Zearley. “Not only has OPEA never had the opportunity to speak in front of this group, the caucus rarely allows advocacy groups of any kind to make presentations.”
"The whole issue could get very, very contentious," a highly-placed source said.
The developments follow a news release last week by Rep. Scott BigHorse, D-Pawhuska, who said Peterson's bill represents "blatant unfairness" to state employees.
A former state employee with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, BigHorse said state workers have experienced lean times for too long: "In this year when state employees may once again have to take a back seat when it comes to a pay raise, I find it carelessly negligent to even suggest taking monies away," he said.
BigHorse noted that state employees have only had two pay raises in the past seven years.
"Currently almost all state employees purchase benefits that allow them to keep some of the benefit allowance as income," BigHorse said. "With their paychecks an average 12 percent less than their market peers, these additional funds provided by a benefits allowance help them make ends meet. That doesn't mean state employees are getting rich off the benefit allowance. This benefit allowance is a very important component of the state's hiring and retention policies. Last year, because of low pay and an increased workload, Oklahoma lost some $85 million due to turnover costs."
With agencies absorbing insurance increases since 2002, BigHorse said it's time someone made a stand for state employees, instead of attempting to reduce their hard-earned pay. "Health care costs rise every day," he said. "Why should we decrease the allowance given to our state workers to pay for them?"
posted by Mike McCarville @ 12:42 AM
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