Some state agencies will withhold or reduce merit raises

The state Civil Service has granted permission for some state agencies to withhold or reduce employee pay raises for the coming fiscal year to avoid possible layoffs because of budget cuts.

All colleges and hospitals in the LSU System plan to scrap the 4 percent annual pay raise employees traditionally receive on their anniversary dates. Pay increases for academic or professional employees also are being suspended under LSU’s plan.

Meanwhile, the nearly 3,000 employees of Louisiana’s public safety services agencies are scheduled to receive a 2 percent pay increase — half of the normal amount — as part of its layoff avoidance plan, according the plans submitted by those agencies.

Ten agencies have received the state Department of Civil Service permission to alter normal merit pay rules in order to avoid employee layoffs, Civil Service Director Shannon Templet said Monday. Templet said the state’s employment agency is expecting at least 14 additional requests and there could be more in the coming
weeks.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget did not include extra money to cover the pay increases. Agencies would have to cut in other areas to generate the dollars necessary just like past administration’s budgets.

Civil Service Commission refuses to stop state employee merit pay increases

The state Civil Service Commission this morning postponed action on a proposal to suspend the 4 percent "merit" pay raise for state government employees.

About 500 state employees and their representatives overflowed the meeting room in the Claiborne Building near the state Capitol, with many testifying that the panelists should reject a commission proposal to cancel the pay raises for rank-and-file state workers.

Speeches by state workers and representatives of their unions drew frequent loud applause. Opponents to the freeze said it was morally wrong and would pose hardships on the approximately 60,000 classified workers for the state.

Commissioner Burl Cain, who represents state employees on the board, moved to defer action on the pay raise suspension so that Civil Service could look at other options.

State Civil Service Commission to meet on one year suspension of state merit increases

The State Civil Service Commission will hold a public hearing at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 to consider suspension of state employee merit increases for one year.

The hearing will be in the Louisiana Purchase Room, Suite 1-100 of the Claiborne Building, 1201 North Third Street, Baton Rouge.

Persons who wish to comment on these proposals may do so at the formal public hearing on June 3rd, or by writing to the Director of the Department of State Civil Service at Post Office Box 94111, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70804-9111. (Individuals must be listed on the agenda or if public hearing item, be registered at the sign-in table before 9:00 A.M.)

Senators question House cuts to merit pay raises

Senators questioned House-backed plans to strip pay raises from government employees and cut more than 3,400 government jobs, as the Senate's budget-crafting committee opened its hearings Monday on next year's $27.9 billion budget proposal.

Members of the Senate Finance Committee also worried about deep cuts proposed to public colleges, as the state's higher education chief warned the cuts could devastate campuses and would be more severe than cuts in nearly every other public college system in the country.

Lawmakers are grappling with a $1.3 billion drop in state general fund revenue. Lawmakers in the state House added millions of dollars in one-time money from a planned tax amnesty program and an expired insurance fund.

State Sens. John Alario, D-Westwego, and Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, questioned the House bill provisions that would stop state employees from getting an annual 4 percent pay raise on their anniversary dates.

"As much as some folks may want to hold back those raises, it's not as easy to do with the stroke of a pen," said Sen. John Alario, D-Westwego.

State Budget Officer Ray Stockstill said the Legislature cannot require the withholding of merit pay raises. He said that authority is onstitutionally given to the state Civil Service Commission.

The commission is scheduled to take up the issue at its June 3 regularly monthly meeting.

Panel might block state merit pay raises

The state Civil Service Commission will consider suspending merit pay raises of some 60,000 state employees at its June 3 meeting.

The proposal affects the 4 percent pay increase classified state employees would get on their job anniversary dates starting July 1.

Louisiana State Penitentiary Warden Burl Cain, a member of the commission, said the granting of the merit pay raises could increase employee layoffs.

In past tight budget years, administrations have not provided funds for merit pay raises but allowed agencies to make other cuts to free up funds to pay the raises.

The commission proposal would stop that from happening.

Legislature continues movement to suspend state employee merit raises

Faced with a $1.3 billion drop in state revenue, members of the House Appropriations Committee combed the budget Tuesday to find money for programs on the chopping block.

State Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington, proposed an amendment to freeze merit increases. He said the move would boost the state’s general fund by $13.4 million.

Overall, the amendment would affect $34 million in raises that state agencies wanted to give in the upcoming fiscal year, Schroder said.

Of that amount only $13.4 million would revert to the general fund. Agencies would keep the rest of the money — because it comes from sources such as self-generated revenue and not general fund dollars — but would not be able to use it for raises, he said.

House Concurrent Resolution offered to limit state employee merit raises

Rep. Erich E. Ponti has House Concurrent Resolution 3, which directs state agencies and departments to “maximize efficiency, minimize waste and save taxpayer dollars.”

It contains directives on eliminating duplications and decreasing merit pay increases, but the resolution is also competing on some levels with a new initiative launched by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Civil Service head: Merit Raises optional

State Civil Service Director Anne Soileau told lawmakers that the heads of all state agencies are free to limit merit raises to their best and brightest instead of treating them like cost-of-living increases.

The raise traces to civil service rules that allow many state workers to receive a 4 percent merit increase annually.

She said the buck stops with state agency heads, who sometimes find it easier to blame someone than to be accountable for their own actions.

The raises are emerging as a big issue as lawmakers review Gov. Bobby Jindal’s $26.7 billion proposed state operating budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Jindal’s budget requires state agencies to absorb the $72.7 million cost of the raises in the coming fiscal year.

Legislator says there are deadbeats on state payroll regarding merit pay raises

Too many state workers are getting salary bumps without a comprehensive review of their performance according to some state lawmakers.

Government agencies can give their workers a "merit pay" increase each year based on their annual evaluations. Under civil service rules, the salary boost can't be less than 4 percent for "classified" state employees — nearly 63,000 workers who aren't political appointees.

Rep. John Schroder (R) Covington, cited figures that show, on average, 96 percent of state government employees get the raises. He said he doesn't believe that all those workers are performing at a level to deserve a "merit" increase. "You can't tell me we don't have some deadbeats on the payroll," he said later.

Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, the governor's top budget adviser, said the system needs revision.

"I'm frustrated about it too, because an employee that 'meets expectations' in my opinion should not get the same raise as an employee that 'exceeds expectations,'" she said.