My SPIN: Legislature throws state employees a bone

by Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator, NC SPIN, August 27, 2015.

Who among us would turn down $750 if someone offered it to us? Most would accept the gift with a “thank you,” but the budget compromise reached by the legislature giving state employees a one time bonus of $750 amounts to little more than throwing them a bone.

To be sure something is better than nothing but the way this “bonus” is structured it does not become part of the employee’s base pay and therefore won’t be taken into account if and when our lawmakers ever decide to grant true pay increases.

State employees, like many in the private sector, haven’t seen legitimate pay increases for years. What they have experienced is increased health insurance co-pays, higher deductibles and greater premiums for dependents. This year, for the first time in years, the state has a significant budget surplus and while we would never suggest they spend it all on employee pay hikes they certainly could have done better than this.

We’re told that in addition to the $750 agencies will receive “tens of millions of dollars” of money to grant individual raises. Let’s see how that works out.

The House wanted to give across the board two percent hikes. The Senate balked. It looks like the House caved. Is this a sign of what we are going to see in budget negotiations? If so, why is it taking so long?