Legislators have been working themselves into an emotional lather over the past several months in efforts to abolish what they mistakenly refer to as “automatic” 4 percent merit increases for state civil service employees. Lost in all the rhetoric, however, was another “automatic” increase that quietly kicked in last October 1—legislators’ per diem payments.
With no debate and no vote, and even as the speechifying over state classified employee pay raises was ongoing, all 144 legislators’ daily allowance jumped $14 a day, from $145 to $159 for each day they meet in the Capitol. That’s because legislators several years ago passed a bill that ties their per diem rate to rates paid federal employees, making the legislators’ per diem increases truly automatic. And that includes days they don’t even meet—37 days for each of the 144 House members and 39 Senate members—during this year’s 85-day session. That obscure law, however, could end if Rep. Jerome Richard (I-Thibodaux) has his way.
With the administration anticipating a deficit of $319 million this year, House members showed no qualms about accepting the per diem payments for 12 Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, plus Memorial Day—days during which both chambers are empty. For House members, that’s $611,832 in per diem payments for days that members are gone and for the Senate, the tab comes to $229,437 for a total payment of $841,269 for all 144 legislators for 37 days in absentia—43 percent of the 85-day session. Factoring in lower per diem rates for prior years and shorter, 60-day sessions in odd-numbered years, that still comes to about $6.5 million in payments over the last 15 years for days during which only the laughter of children and the sounds of tourists reverberate in the otherwise empty Capitol rotunda.
The classic quotation by Everett Dirksen, the late U.S. Senator from Illinois, somehow seems appropriate for the Louisiana Legislature today: “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” And we’re not even talking about special sessions.
Legislators bemoan the fact that they are paid only $16,800 per year. But $159 per diem for an 85-day session adds another $22,896. Each legislator also receives an un-vouchered $6,000 per year expense allowance, up to $1,500 per month in other vouchered expenses (that’s $63,696 for a part time job, which is more than the average state civil service employee makes in his or her full time job). Add to that perks that include a laptop computer for the Capitol, a desktop computer for his or her district office, high-speed internet service, up to three telephones for each legislator’s district office, and up to $3,000 per month for the salary of a legislative aide. Additionally, Legislators serving on or before Jan. 1, 1997, or who were already participating in a public retirement system at that time, also are eligible for retirement benefits of 3.5 percent of the member’s annual salary for each year of service. State civil service employees receive 2.5 percent of their annual salaries.
Richard, who represents Lafourche Parish, introduced HB 1390 on Tuesday that would divorce legislators’ per diem from the federal rate by freezing the daily payments at $159 in light of the anticipated fiscal shortfall facing the state. As of Tuesday, his bill had not been received a committee referral.
Civil service employees will have their salaries frozen, effective July 1 after lawmakers railed against what some perceived as automatic 4 percent merit increases for state classified employees. The term automatic, however, is somewhat misleading. Merit, or step, increases are given based on job performance. If an employee fails to attain certain goals, there is no merit increase. Moreover, once a classified employee maxes out on his or her step increases, there are no more increases available under civil service unless that employee receives a promotion or changes jobs. There have been no cost of living (COL) increases for state workers since 2007. The last COL prior to that was during the Edwards administration.
That hasn’t stopped lawmakers like District 77 Rep. John M. Schroder, Sr. (R-Covington) who has led a vendetta-like campaign against state classified employees. He has authored no less than six separate bills dealing with state civil service, none of which would appear to be favorable to state workers. All six of his bills were referred to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
HB 752 would grant the legislature sole authority to provide for pay increases for state employees and state elected officials. The bill would include employees of joint state and parochial agency or joint state and municipal agency, “regardless of the source of the funds used to pay for such employment.”
HB 753 would abolish the State Civil Service Commission and the Department of State Civil Service, effective Jan. 9, 2012. Though Schroder is proposing the abolishment of civil service, his bill offers no alternative that would protect state government from returning to the spoils system of political patronage. Civil service currently protects employees from being required to campaign for or contribute to political candidates as a condition of keeping their jobs. Without civil service, some fear a return of the “deduct box” of the Huey Long era.
HB 754 would prohibit pay increases to state employees when there is a budget deficit, subject to a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment for up to six month, or both.
HB 755 would require the legislature to determine prior to each fiscal year if pay increases may be granted to state employees and if so, the manner and amount of the increase. This bill would be a radical departure from allowing supervisors and managers to evaluate employees’ work performance and to make decisions on merit increases. Schroder’s bill does not explain how the legislature would be qualified to evaluate job performance of 60,000 individual state employees.
House bills 752, 753, 754, and 755 are all proposed constitutional amendments and would have to be voted on in the Nov. 2 statewide election.
HB 757 would require that certain employee reports be sent to the Department of State Civil Service, the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate. The reports would include employees’ names, addresses, positions, dates and place of employment, hours of work, and salaries.
Perhaps the most ominous bill, however, is HB 1296, which would require employees to use annual, compensatory, or unpaid leave for official holidays. Official state holidays include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Mardi Gras, Good Friday, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Inauguration Day once every four years in the city of Baton Rouge, and General Election Day every two years.
Particularly galling to state employees are the 9 percent per diem increase for legislators and the $159 per diem paid lawmakers for three days per week that the House and Senate do not meet during the 85-day session while at the same time halting 4 percent merit increases and also considering a bill to take paid holidays away from workers.
It was Schroder who initially raised the issue of “automatic” merit increases for state employees last year with House Speaker Jim Tucker quickly joining in the effort to thwart the increases. Many felt that Schroder and Tucker were simply doing Gov. Bobby Jindal’s bidding in attacking the civil service merit increases. The governor has mostly remained above the fray even while allowing six legislators sitting on his Commission on Streamlining Government to collect more than $17,000 in per diem payments during their consideration of ways to reduce government spending. Four private sector members of the commission received no payments though Barry Erwin, president of the Council for a Better Louisiana, did say, “We did get certificates to hang on the wall.”
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